Indoors-Outdoors Kind of Gal

Tip of the Day: Here's a comic that needs more exposure: My Cage by Melissa DeJesus and Ed Power.




My comic is apropos because I've identified myself since childhood as an "indoorsman." While the other kids were playing freeze tag, I couldn't put my book down. Now my ability to withstand weekends without sunlight allows me to live through Upstate New York winters, typing away at my keyboard.



But as I get older and my parents aren't ripping the books from my hands and kicking me out the door, I find I need to be "one with nature" more than ever. I like to watch squirrels and eat cherries off my cherry tree. I need that sunlight. My skin, not so much, but my brain needs it. So I'm off to the mountains for a week. I'll have this passage in mind, from A Year of Creativity by Brenda Mallon:

Feel the temperature of the sun on your skin. Note the distinctive smells of the
season. See how the light changes at certain times of the day. Listen to sounds
that surround you, and then listen some more to the elusive sounds that often go
unnoticed. Imagine you are seeing the world for the first time ... Make a list
of any plants, animals, or natural features that catch your attention ... Add
descriptions: lush leaves, washed streets, dusty evening light, sun-baked
stones.

That's what I'll be doing this week. Hopefully, I won't come back to civilization with pages of notes that say "persistent mosquitoes, painful black flies, oozy slugs, freaking ginormous centipedes."



-- Kate, Miss Apprentice Writer