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Almost everyone who knows me knows how much I love summer. I love the heat, the long days, and the sunshine. I’m not much enamored of humidity, but it goes along with the territory. Sadly. LOL
Anyway, one of my concerns last fall was that I had not spent enough time outside, soaking up the sun’s rays. By mid-August, I was back on vitamin D, which is way too early.
I was determined to do things differently this summer, and so far, I have. With my older dog’s passing, my younger one has begun refusing to go outside without me, so I’ve been getting five to ten minutes of sun, two or three times a day. I also have realized that I need to create an outdoor writing space.
Over the winter, I got the idea of using a folding storage box to shield my laptop. As I’m writing this, I’m on the tablet, but have it tucked inside the box with my cell phone and bottle of water. I have a small iron bistro table that I’ve got the whole thing set up on, and I made sure I sat right in the sun. Without a hat. Because I’m tired of having a white forehead and brown cheeks.
This setup is working out well, considering its imperfections. I’m using the tablet keyboard instead of the Bluetooth external, because the Bluetooth is still charging. It’s hard to see the screen at times, because I do still have a glare when the clouds move away from over the sun. The chair is not terribly comfortable. And, I clearly need to trim my fingernails. LOL
So, what can I do to make it better? Sunglasses over my glasses may help. The hat surely would, but then … white forehead. I could turn so the sun is at my back. Again …white forehead.
I pushed the tablet deeper into the box, and that helped. It is significantly easier to see now, even with the squinting I’m doing when the clouds move.
A bigger table might work better, because I don’t have room for a plate with food on it. I suppose that’s all good, as well, since I have no earthly reason to be constantly putting food in my mouth while I write. I can put a plate on the extra chair like I did today; I just have to watch that Jasper leaves it alone. Well, the bugs, too.
Speaking of my dog, he’s stood beside me all this time. It’s like he doesn’t know how to relax. He should go lay in the shade. It’s as if he’s not really a dog.
Anyway, other than making sure I have a thermos of some type to keep my water cold, I think this setup is as good as it’s going to get. I don’t have a pool, unless you count the kiddie pool I haven’t pulled out of the garage yet. I’m not confident I need it yet, though, so I’m not going to worry about it for now.
And, since I don’t want to get a bad sunburn, I’ll close this out and head back inside.
If you’re a writer, do you have an outdoor writing space? If so, how do you have it set up? If you’re a reader, do you spend time outside? What’s your space look like?
Come back next Wednesday for another peek into my journal! <3
I fill bottles of water halfway, freeze them, then put more water in the bottle before going out. The water stays cool as the ice melts. For a long day, I use a big bottle. I don’t use bottled water – my city has great-tasting water.
Oh, I wish my town had good water, but it tastes yucky and has stuff floating in it. I bought a Brita pitcher to filter it for cooking and some drinking. They have a water treatment plant, but clearly do not treat it well. LOL
That’s a great idea, though! Thanks for sharing it with me! 🙂
When I moved into my house three years ago, the guys hooked my ice maker up, but it doesn’t make ice for some reason (I suspect it’s not hooked up on the other end), and there’s not room for a bag of ice *and* food both in the freezer. LOL However, if I put my insulated bottle in there, I can fill it from the pitcher or a bottle of water and it will stay cold to cool all day. 🙂