Free Time Does Not Always Translate into More Writing Time

So this past weekend was a long weekend here in Canada - the unofficial 'start' to the summer. It is traditionally the weekend where many people - our family included - go up to the cottage to spend a few days lounging, barbequing and, if it's nice warm weather, doing some boating, canoeing or kayaking. The lakes may still be freezing but if the sun is out we Canadians don't care. What's a little freezing water when we survived sub-zero winter weather for six months? I took my wip, thinking I could easily find a couple of hours here and there to work on it. Especially if the family was out and about doing outdoorsey things (I'm not an outdoorsey person - especially if the dreaded black flies are out). Well, as they say, best laid plans and all that…

First of all, the weather sucked. Cold, rainy and not at all inviting for people to go outside and frolick in the outdoors. Sure the bugs were nonexistent (they don't like the cold, rainy weather any more than their human feedbags do ) but all it meant was more time spent indoors which we could have done in Toronto. Normally, I wouldn't mind. I'm more of an indoor girl anyway. But when you're in close quarters already, shutting yourself off in a bedroom to write or read makes you seem even more anti-social than you already are. But, if I'm being honest, I didn't feel like writing at all. I kept thinking "I'll do it later. I've got the whole weekend." Instead, I read, worked on a cross-stitch Christmas stocking for my son that should have been done ten years ago and might be handed down to his son by the time I'm actually finished with it, cooked for the kids, visited with the other family we share the cottage with, walked the dog in between rain showers, watched movies, read trashy magazines. Everything but write.

I'm starting to think that I can only write when I'm abnormally busy with day-to-day life. I know I won't have tons of time during the week or on weekends when I'm catching up on laundry, grocery shopping, ferrying children around to various events etc. so I cram in writing when I can. The urgency to write seems to be more when I have less time available. What is up with that? I fear that when I eventually retire from the day job (unfortunately not until years and years from now) I won't be able to write a thing! I joke that I'll have to travel on the subway for hours at a time after retirement to fake myself into thinking I'm going to work so I can actually get some writing done. This when I would have an entire free day stretched out ahead of me!

Sheesh.

Well, at least we came back home a day early and I was able to take my daughter to her skating lesson on Monday. And guess what? I wrote a few pages while I was waiting for her lesson to end too. Sigh.