Not how I planned to get my writing time...

I'm in sunny San Diego, home of fish tacos and tangerines growing outside the door! I thought I was being wildly optimistic when I printed out and brought along the manuscript of my novel, but I thought maybe I'd snatch a few moments to do a little writing on the plane or when the kids were poking their fingers into tide pools.

Yesterday we did plenty of the tide pool poking--it was an exquisite day and we went to the beach near the house of the friends we are staying with in Encinitas and then drove to Cabrillo National Monument and hiked and explored the amazing tide pools. The girl critter was out of her head happy to get to see and touch wild hermit crabs and critters like the Sunburst Anemone. We even saw some small sea stars with legs so long and delicate you couldn't believe that they routinely survived the bashing waves and tides.

Now the poor girl critter is simply out of her head. She slept in today and woke up hot and cranky, then after some juice and milk, threw up all over me.

So Brian and Ian cleared out of here and went off to Palomar Observatory for some good geeky fun. Mostly the girl is sleeping with the occasional bout of dry heaves, but other than a few requests for a cooling damp washcloth, prefers to be left alone.

I didn't plan on getting my writing time in this way, and I do hope that this is just a brief blip for the girl. But I am enjoying the quiet--the birds singing outside the window, the warm breezes and sunshine--as I work my way through my manuscript, editing and writing, adding and elaborating. Other than the sick girl in the next room, I imagine this is what a writer's retreat feels like.