Quick update

Yes, I missed my usual Saturday post. My in-laws are visiting again from China this summer, and we took them on a road trip across upstate New York to Cleveland. On Saturday, I was in Rochester, NY, on our way back. It was a 1,700-mile round-trip journey, which is nothing to sneeze at. We saw some beautiful country, had a lot of laughs, and had plenty of adventures.

The trip helped validate some of my recent posts about the journey being more important than the destination. We wanted to show my in-laws some of the Great Lakes, and Cleveland seemed like a good place to reach, as none of us had ever been to Ohio. It was remarkably quiet for a major city, and although we enjoyed our time, it was nothing particularly special (we also got a parking ticket even though we had paid). I don’t think we would return.

On this journey, we stopped in Syracuse, Rochester, Buffalo, Cleveland, Albany, a few spots in the Berkshires, and some spectacular parks. But what really stuck out for me was the drive. We decided to stay off 90 and spent most of the journey on back roads, meandering through vast swaths of farm land and along the coast of Lake Erie. It allowed us to see some absolutely beautiful country, and most of the time we were the only car on the road. The journey was truly better than the destinations and ranks as probably my second-favorite drive after Highway 1 on the California coast. On our return, we stopped at my parents’ place and had a nice cookout.

It felt good to get away from both work and my writing life and allowed me to recharge my creative batteries. I’m still working on Sylvanus, and it is moving along, somewhat slowly, but I got right back to writing as soon as I returned home. I anticipate that I am a little less than halfway through the first draft and expect it will be published in the fall.

Well, that’s a quick update on what I’ve been up to. I’ll be back to my normal posting schedule this Saturday.

Cheers!