Remember in elementary school science class we learned of inert energy and kinetic energy? A body at rest will remain at rest until acted upon by an outside force. And A body in motion will remain in motion until …  Well, until friction and the loss of speed stops it. I may not have gotten an ‘A’ in science.

But I do know kinetic energy is energy in motion and that’s what the last two weeks have been and why my blog post is happening on Wednesday instead of Monday.

It’s all been good.  

On the heels of arriving home from my week-long writers’ workshop in the beautiful North Carolina mountains, I had just enough time to empty my suitcase, wash my clothes, and repack my suitcase for a 3-day (4 if you include a driving day) visit to the beautiful Tennessee mountains. This time with Hubby and meeting up with my childhood friend, Linda, and her Hubby. Knoxville is a walkable interesting city whether you’re into history, the Civil War, craft beer and breweries, bluegrass music, the University of Tennessee, delicious food, the arts, or nature. We experienced it all in our three days. Plus, a best 2-out-of-3 euchre match-up that Linda and I won. Again.

A day after returning from Tennessee, one of my fellow Rowdy Readers had an opening reception for her first art exhibit. (I also attended a friend’s poetry reading that afternoon!) Betty is 94 years-old and came into painting late in life, after retiring from teaching at the local university, so probably in her 70s. Betty has always had a flair for color–I’ve never seen her in pastels, always bright, bold reds, yellows and pinks–and this trait shows up in her paintings and collages. There’s a vibrant energy that emanates from her the rest of us ‘younger’ Rowdies aspire to.

This past Friday evening our parish opened its 23^rd Annual International Festival. Our Catholic parish is truly catholic in that we have parishioners from around the globe and for 2 days every year we celebrate the foods and cultures from those different countries. This year we had 20 (?) different food booths with Laos and Australia joining the mix. The aromas were so enticing wafting over the parking area, we could hardly wait to eat. My favorite is always the Ethiopian lentils and sponge bread, though the Laos egg rolls were tasty. Hubby heads straight for the pierogis at the Polish booth. Actually, everything is delicious.

There’s also entertainment and on Saturday evening when we took two of our Grands, the boys were enthralled by the dancers that used real Arabian scimitars, (“Those are real swords?!”) especially when they balanced them on their heads while dancing. The Vietnamese lions paraded through the crowds to the beat of large drums.

Before going to the festival, we’d taken the boys to mass. They aren’t regular attendees, so every time we take them, they notice something new. I’m always in gratitude for how well they pay attention and for the questions they ask. This time the 8-year-old was proud of himself for ‘taking a knee’ before going into the pew like everyone else. No matter we Catholics call it genuflecting, which I explained, ‘taking a knee’ worked.

On Saturday morning this same Grand played in his first soccer match. This is his first year playing and his enthusiasm, focus, and determination vibrated across the field to where we sat.

We kept the two boys overnight so we could get them to their mom’s triathlon first thing the next morning. They’d helped her prepare by cheering her on during practices, running with her, poking fun of her unitard, and asking all kinds of questions. We’d made signs for her the afternoon before. During the race we caught glimpses of her and they became more animated each time, and more excited to meet her at the finish line.

These are just some of the highlights. There was also a virtual shopping trip with my sisters, a Zoom book launch, relocating a spider egg sac, and all the other normal life stuff.

And then it was Monday, and my blog post was just a few scattered notes, and I felt as if I’d crossed the finish line into the next week, but like most leg races you don’t simply stop once you break the tape. Or at least I never did. There’s that period of trotting a few yards, cooling down, getting everything back into its normal rhythm.

Usually, my days are more balanced, and I have protected writing time, but when I’m this busy physically and mentally, the writing part of my brain also feels that energy yet there’s no space to release it. Monday was my cooling down day. I read more than I wrote: the novels James by Percival Evertt and Hieroglyphics by Jill McCorkle, and short story collection, How to Euthanize a Fish by Kathryn Etters Lovatt. I sorted through poems. And I took in all the reminders and blessings from all that activity.

Yesterday I wrote … before another soccer game.

I hope the rest of your week is filled with the activities you enjoy. I plan to be back here Monday!