Day 5: My work station

Most days I spend several hours at my desk working on my book and reading news sources, especially the NY Times.  After 18 months, my book on Quest is a few months away from completion.  It is both a collective memoir and a template for creating and organizing a middle school outdoor education program. The turquoise binder holds the first draft of about 90,000 words.  On top of it is the binder full of transcripts from many of the interviews I've conducted.

I'm working now to integrate the personal reflections from the interviews with past participants into the original text.  Behind them is the Quest manual that tracks a daily guide to a year's worth of Quest's tasks, lessons, forms and schedules.  Edited and revised pages are in the dark blue binder.  That's thinnest of all, for now.  Nearby, I keep a pad where I make lists of people to contact, things to do, stray thoughts and ideas.  A photo of our sons, my reference books, the hole punch and snacks are close by.

Binoculars rest on the windowsill so I can watch the birds and squirrels.  Typically, my camera sits nearby for capturing surprising scenes of nature in the yard.  Last winter, a pileated woodpecker stopped by for a snack and was gone before I could get its picture.

I don't like to spend so much time indoors.  Although we walk every day, it's not enough to satisfy me.  I can't wait for spring, but till it arrives, this corner of our house provides me with the best view of the yard, our woods and the vineyards beyond.