Off the Clock
It’s vacation time, and the living is tropical. Linda and I arrived Sunday afternoon in The Islands — formerly the Sandwich, today the Hawaiian — and hopped across to the northernmost in the chain, Kauai. It was a remarkably smooth flight from Oakland to Honolulu. Not wishing to put a pox on anything, the 5½ hours in the plane went by much faster than I expected, and that was without getting into a good book. Of course I read — some pilot magazines — and I started a Dick Francis novel. Francis has written dozens of books, mostly about the racing industry, and he seems tired. The new book stretched suspension of disbelief beyond the breaking point.
Comfortably ensconced in a friend’s rented condominium on the north coast of Kauai, we are delighting in the tropical breezes and emerald verdancy that define what Hawaiians refer to as "the garden island". From our bedroom we can see Bali Hai, the mountain that was featured in "South Pacific", and today we climbed down a bluff through thick foliage to Hideway Beach. The water was simply too inviting, and I shed my clothes on the sand and splashed into the Pacific Ocean for the first time in almost twenty years. Not something you can easily do in California, but down here in the more southern climes, the water temperature is twenty delicious degrees warmer.
If there is a drawback, it is the lack of a good internet connection; I’m using a small "i" in a castigating voice. Linda and I expected to be clacking and on-lining a lot — I even brought a full-size keyboard — but the world may have to wait until we get back for the full flood of eloquence. When I told people that we were bringing our laptops, they recoiled in horror that we might jeopardize the pleasure of our holidays, but the fact is that we both love to write. Linda’s shift into collaborative law is exciting and purposeful. She will likely have the good portion of a new book roughed out before we leave, and it will be more about creativity than struggle.
Having finished the campaign cycle last week with two grand victories and an expected defeat, I’m relaxing by writing fiction. I’ve been plucking my way through a sequel to "The Wizard of Oz" in which Dorothy fails to make it back to Kansas but instead sets off to discover what love’s got to do with it. Wait for the movie. For me, it is the exercise of a different part of my brain that provides invigoration and satisfaction, regardless of whether the work is ever even read by anyone.
Vacations are about much more than taking a break from work, or not having to go to the office. For us, they are an opportunity to explore other parts of the planet — see new vistas, learn about different cultures, enjoy new tastes, smells and sounds. And to have the time to discover new places inside.
And that’s SetonnoteS...I’m Tony Seton.