The World Stands Still and Waits For Me

I have a recurring fantasy.
I find that a stray door in my home, when opened a certain way, leads not into the usual (messy) room or closet but into….a lovely, tidy cabin in the woods. (No, come on back. It's not a Joss Whedon reference).

The cabin has heating/cooling, running water, electricity, and a great view of the nearby lake and hills. It is late spring or early summer and there are hiking and swimming options but no bears or mosquitoes (!ha-ha!). Getting the picture? The cabin also has a great window seat/reading nook - well lit and with lots of pillows and a soft, woven throw for snuggling under. There is also a nifty screened-in porch ('cause there might be other bugs) with hanging chairs and a rocking chair. There is a computer built into the kitchen island that allows me to request food-n-such as needed and the shopping list is fulfilled that night. Poof - it's just there the next day just as the trash magically disappears overnight. {!Yes!} The best feature of the cabin is a roomy studio that supports all of my craft explorations in weaving, knitting, ceramics, sewing, tatting, needlework, etc.

It's a slightly boring fantasy where there is no strife, no angst, no heroics, no depressing world news or distracting cable TV, and no romantic interest. There are cats. The cats get to come with me through the door from home. There is also a fair amount of solitude, because once I discover the abilities of this stray door, time suspends for, say 6 months, and I can't leave my house.
This is the true core of the fantasy. I can move back and forth between my house and the cabin at will. Food, cat and general/craft needs are addressed by the shopping list. And the world stands still and waits for me.

Waits for me to do what? What do I do with the 6 months of no phones, no errands, and not going to work or school?
No worries. I sleep. I craft. I organize. And I clean.

At home, I read all those Oprah magazines that I haven't finished. And I read more of my many, many books (and I get actually read some of my craft books instead of just using them for reference material!). I explore movies and TV series I haven't seen like "Call the Midwife" and "Outlander". I bundle up stuff to be recycled and donated. At the cabin, I hike and swim and eat ice cream (and don't gain weight!). I go through ALLLLLLL my e-mails and start/finish Christmas Cards. I knit gifts for the holidays and birthdays for the next year. I go through all the published Interweave, Knitty and Twist Collectives and I add the patterns that make my heart sing to my Ravelry queue/favorites list. I water my plants regularly and scrape and paint the back porch. I blog (well, pre-blog because time is suspended for the rest of the world) and I set up projects and knit sweaters/hats/socks. I weave and explore techniques I've only seen in books. I throw pots and yarn bowls and mugs (in a side-room of the cabin studio. Gotta keep the ceramic dust off the yarn-y crafts, y'know). The wish-list of to-do's to accomplish could fill up a week of long blog posts.

Yeah, I know. There is no way I could get the above list done in 6 months. {grin} But, it's a fantasy. The 6 month time limit acknowledges that I'd achieve a whole 'nother level of "odd" if I only had the cats for company for longer than 6 months. Ha - would I even last 6 months?
I must also giggle at the fantastical idea that I would diligently work daily to accomplishing the things on my loooong to-do list and not get distracted with knitting a shawl or something (which is pretty much what happens in reality).

The Spring Semester ended a couple of weeks ago and I've begun to step past the initial panting rest from the hyper-focused work/school world I occupied for the past 4 months. I'm also consolidating long-neglected to-do lists and plotting both necessary and fun projects for my "Summer vacation". I've actually crossed a few small ones off the list, but there is so much to do.

So, as I was gathering those to-do lists, I was a'wish'n that I had some additional funds and {greedy me} more time to work on the many to-do's. Then... I realized…that while I can't escape to the quiet and safe cabin in the woods to craft in an already clean-n-tidy environment whilst I slip back to methodically work my way through cleaning and organizing my neglected home…my current reality is actually a modified version of my fantasy.

I'm still working part time but I'm usually home before mid-morning. The cats are with me for company when the DH heads off to work. And with school out for the summer, I'm not in class or monitoring the weaving lab 5 or 6 days a week then getting home an hour before bedtime.

I don't have 6 months before the Fall Semester begins, but for the summer I can read books and magazines, visit Ravelry, clean and craft. I've queued up "Outlander" to come from Netflix. I can work on clearing my e-mail and haul things off to GoodWill.
And look {wry grin} - here's a blog post!

But best of all, in this reality, the world doesn't have to stand still and wait for me. I can meet up with friends and spend time with my DH (Dear Husband - who makes my current fantastical reality possible with his patience, humor, insurance and willingness to treat me to dinner and a movie 'cause I'm still living the financial diet).

It's kind of weird to realize that a bit of a fantasy has come true. Surreal and smile-worthy but a little embarrassing that it took me so long to catch on. Blessings actually be. Huh.