Soon, very soon, much sooner than I would like, I’ll have to pack up my spirit and move out of my writing cave, where I have spent the past three months–happy even when the words have come slowly, painfully twisting back on themselves; delirious with joy when (much less often) words have dropped from my fingertips, swift and sure. In ten days, I’ll be back to my teaching duties, giving most of my time and attention to my students’ work instead of my own.
Three years have passed since the last time I was able to live for an entire summer inside my own writing–and now I know for certain, having been away so long, that this cave, regardless of which characters inhabit it with me, is my true home. Preparing for the school year feels like packing for a long journey–one during which, I hope, I’ll be able to stop into my cave for a day or two, here and there. But until next May, I must content myself with being only a visitor, looking forward to the sweet day when I can become a cave-dweller once more. And to the even sweeter day when I can move in to stay.
Nancy Jensen - Author 