Saturday, March 1, 2008

Empty Nest

I know what images this brings up, but in my case it's a bit different. My nest is not empty of children, but of my SO. No, it's not a permanent condition so withhold the notes of condolence. It is merely a vacation.

My SO’s job is such that our schedules often prevent us from taking time off at the same time. Summer months are great for me as a teacher, but they are the busy time at the local public library. Summer Reading programs take precedent over vacations. So often my dearest will take a vacation in the spring. Unfortunately not during my Spring Break because again, that is a peak time of activity for Youth Services Librarians.

So this week my Precious is on vacation. Now normally that would conjure images of an out of sorts Librarian wandering about the house trying to figure out what to do next. This is a dangerous thing as any woman can tell you, if you are not here to supervise the wandering about. It can result in terrible things like home improvement projects, starting new hobbies and reorganizing common work spaces in the home.

The last thing you want to hear upon arriving home after a hard day of trying to explain the concepts of personification, anthropomorphization and the difference between similes and metaphors is the sound of someone saying, “Honey, do you remember your book? The one on the coffee table?” Remember it?

Even worse. “Honey, I straightened up a bit for you.” This generally means there will be ten things I can’t find in the first hour after arriving home. Should this happen they will hear the screams in Australia.

Now my love does not have a history of these things, but I’m not really into risk taking. But the truth is the bigger risk for me is the “I’ve had no one to talk to all day” thing. When you come home and want ten minutes of quiet and the other person, who has had no one to talk to all day, suddenly starts to talk. And talk. And talk.

So, a preemptive strike was in order and a local airline cooperated marvelously by having a rate sale. So this morning I crawled out of bed at 6am to put my SO on a plane to visit my in-laws. For 5 days. Plenty of time to sit on the beach, begin to appreciate my cooking again, get fed up with the younger brothers and spend time with old friends.

I thought this was a wonderful idea. I love alone time. I like to putter about. I like to be able to write or read with out the self imposed guilty feeling of neglecting my Precious. In fact I’m under orders to finish working on my current WIP (the incubus story) and get back to finishing up my Wolf story. Someone is not a fan of the incubus.

But tonight, as I sit here, it seems very quiet. Too quiet and I find I’m actually missing my dear already. It’s just me, four dogs, two birds, three fish and a snail. Just one human missing. And I have to tell you, the house never felt lonelier.

So my darling Kell, if you are checking out this blog, have a great time dearest. I love you and miss you already.

6 comments:

Phoenix said...

There's something in sharing the space, breathing the same air, the sound of a silent presence which is thoroughly missed when gone. It's five days, hon, and when Kell comes back not only will you have been missed but the missing will make you appreciate each other that much more.

If it makes you feel any better, I am supposed to be moving on to my next ms too. Dang final chapter always puts me in a stall though and I keep sitting on the one I'm meant to turn in. Grr.

Kell said...

Two words - Wolf story. OK, two more - miss you.

Unknown said...

I agree with Kell - get your butt into gear and finish you wolf stories.

I also like your proactive way of getting rid of the librarian for 5 days...most amusing

Anny Cook said...

If you're writing, the time will fly by--so write, write, write. I would like another chapter of Tarris' story soon, please.

Anonymous said...

I am a soon to be father (5 wks). I don’t know what it is like yet to have children for several years in your home, and then all of a sudden have an empty home. I can understand were all of a sudden there is a lot of extra time. I can also understand were it could end up being lonely. I wonder in these satiations why people don’t take a few minutes to become involved and share their experiences with new and soon to be parents? It seems like not only a great way to add something else to your life but to somebody else’s as well.

My wife and I are apart of a number of online communities which to some extent encourage this type of interaction. Our favorite right now is OurBabySteps.com. We just have a lot of questions about what to expect, and how to handle it. For us, with no experience, its great to have people to learn from. It also seems to me like a great way share, remember, and fill extra time.

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