Slowly and Quietly

I needed a little getaway from the city so I'm spending the rest of the week in Woodbury, Conn. visiting with my friend/former co-worker, Neema. She and her mom recently moved into this charming country home where the walls are covered in wood paneling and peeling white paint, the floors are made up of different wooden planks, the slanted ceilings have exposed beams, and there's loads of wares left from the previous 80-something-year-old tenant. In the middle of all the settling in, dusting out, and cleaning up, Neema has managed to carve out a little work space to call her own and she's happily lent it to me while I stay with her. It's incredibly quiet out here - and crazy dark out there at night - but it's so relaxing to not have to deal with the city din for a few days.

My original intentions were to get some personal work done away from the distractions, but after an afternoon drive into town, a stroll down the road to a lakeside property to take in the view with our eyes and cameras, and then making friends with a neighboring horse, I wonder if I can't just call that - slowing down - productivity in and of itself.