Jessie: Finally in Maine, enjoying the salty air!

This summer marks the eighth that my family will spend on the coast of Maine. It is the second of those same summers that I haven’t had a September 1 deadline for a book. I am wildly excited to consider that I will not spend long, sunny days watching others trundle past with beach carts and folding chairs, the scent of sunblock wafting through my windows in their wake.

I won’t bribe myself to get a certain number of words written or pages revised in the morning in order to go to the beach in the afternoon. Tides rather than productivity will rule the timing of my beach visits.

I am not the only one pleased by this turn of events. My family and friends that visit us at the seaside each year have expressed pleasure at the thought they need not feel guilty leaving me alone in the house while they went off to frolic in the waves or to strill the shore. My children have wistfully mentioned the possibilty that I might remember how to use the bbq grill or at least the way to the local grocer.

So I’ve stocked up on plants for the patio and the window boxes. I’ve bought new pillows for the beds. I even have been perusing the internet for grilling recipes. All in all it looks like a pleasurable few weeks stretching ahead rather than a frenzied scramble of activity. I couldn’t be more pleased!

Readers, do you have any fun plans for the summer? Writers, how do you motivate yourself to work when the summer sun is shinig through th e windows and tempting you out of doors?