Wednesday, September 01, 2010

vacation

trying to hold onto the summer sun!

For the last ten days I've been on vacation! When you are a freelance author, vacations can be infrequent (just like how Libby said). Most of the time, my vacations are a mix of work and fun; places to help inspire my writing or illustrating. However, this vacation was planned for pure enjoyment, relaxation and fun. See:

Doesn't that look like pure fun? It was! Because that's me up there! Really! Here, we'll zoom up:


Because, I spent my vacation on the shores of North Carolina at Okracoke Island and Kitty Hawk and had a fun, fun time swimming, getting tan, looking for sea glass, and eating lots of bad (but delicious) things. We rented a house right on the beach. To live with the ocean as a daily companion was a new and magical experience for me. In the mornings I could watch the sunrise:


and at night I could see the moonlight on the water:


Even when it stormed, it was beautiful. A child was a bit careless with his large, clear beach ball and during a storm it was slowly washed out to sea. It looked like a giant bubble, delicately riding the waves:



There was something bittersweet and poetic about it. In fact, it gave me an idea for a book...ah! For freelance authors, there really is no such thing as a non-working vacation!

7 comments:

Annie Donwerth Chikamatsu said...

Glad I came across this post! A nice break for me as well. Great photos but esp. liked the video of the ball and rainstorm. The sounds, the lightning.

Joan Holub said...

Looks like it was a blast, Grace!

I love that the Blue Rose Girls includes a variety of professionals in kidlit. Makes for interesting discussions.

Happy fall to you all!

alvinaling said...

So beautiful! I want to go. And I love the video, too. There's something so meditative about it.

Meghan McCarthy said...

Super jealous! Love the top photo... and all of them really. Glad you're having fun!

Abigail said...

Sounds like you got out just in time -- I just heard a lady on the radio talking about leaving Ocracoke ahead of Hurricane Earl!

Grace Lin said...

Thanks, all! It was a gorgeous vacation, I'm sorry it's over..but glad we left before Earl arrived!

Steve Emond said...

You did vacation right, Grace!