I’m unusually lucky in that I have several in-real-life writing friends (a whole bushel, actually) that I treasure. *Fist-bumps Febe Moss and waves to the North Branch crew.* Online writing friends are fabulous, and IRL non-writing friends are super important too. But only with IRL writing friends can you pull off the kind of productivity and hi jinx Kelsey Macke and I pulled off this spring break with our second annual Tiny Cabin writing retreat. This time we went to Oklahoma. I could write you a blog post, but, well, I think the pictures pretty well capture it.* I’ll let them talk (with a little help).
All amped up and ready to hit the road!
We’ve arrived at our destination: Tiny Cabin 2. If you try to tell me it’s not the cutest little cabin you’ve ever seen I’ll call you a liar.
Inside: much less tiny than we expected. More than double Tiny Cabin 1, and cheaper to boot. Win!
First things first, let’s get this puzzle set up. (Last year we realized we needed a non-writing thing to do during breaks.)
We were wowed by our first sunset, with perfect viewing on the front porch slider.
Our adorable little beds. The cabin had two bedrooms but we bunked together because we’re cute like that.
First morning, enjoying my coffee and the sun on the back porch.
The view. Not bad, Oklahoma. Not bad.
Getting to work.
Silhouette of a writer — Kels rocking her headphones.
An afternoon hike for a break. That’s Tiny Cabin 2 from a distance.
Look at this cute little babbling creek that bordered the property!
A late-day session wears me thin. Maybe a change in seating will do the trick?
The second sunset.
A tiny little pan-fire for a tiny ilttle cabin.
Morning two and the writing is hard to come by: desperate circumstances call for desperate measures.
Let’s get out of our heads and enjoy the great outdoors.
We were treated to an aerial show right above us.
The great outdoors didn’t do the trick. Last night: one step beyond desperate.
Our final sunset.
The worst of the dam broke, and on our last morning we abandoned the puzzle for the sake of more words. We got a lot more words. 🙂
Tired and happy. We had fun. We wrote things. We kicked some ass.
*Not pictured here: a questionable hot tub, Amaretto sours, a killer cartwheel, tree-climbing, a healthy dose of creative angst (okay maybe that was pictured here), impromptu dance parties, mysterious critter invasions, and sunshine yoga.
Thanks to Kelsey for the fun, the support, and several of these pictures! It turned out that this retreat was exactly what I needed to prioritize, get my head on straight, and find my groove again.
Now… Who’s in the mood for a retreat? Or if you’re not a writer, for a vacation? Honestly, they always end up getting blurred together for me anyway. I’ve never taken a retreat without stopping to have some fun, and I’ve never been on a vacation where I didn’t drown in inspiration and come home itching to work my butt off. Thus is the wonderful life of a writer. Happy spring!
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