I was raised in southern California. Driving was compulsory. Driving was reality. I really really like to drive. So a lot of the time when I have a place to go, even if flying might be an option, I drive. So this week, Tom and I are driving to Lake George New York for the Falling Leaves Retreat. Seriously, you ask?  That’s four extra days out of your week. Two up, two back.

Why yes. Yes it is. And that’s a good thing.

The first couple of years Meghan was at Loyola of Maryland, she flew home. But then one trip home she came home by train. Yes, it was a longer trip for her. But you know what? She had a chance on the train to leave behind college and when she got off the train she was ready to be home.

That time on the train was time to make the transition from college life to home life.

For me, this drive to Lake George is transition time. I packed yesterday–yes, too much stuff–after all, the car does not check the weight of my suitcase. It was the beginning of my transition time, I had to concentrate on what would be happening this coming weekend, not thinking of what was going on at home, with my writing, with the puppies, with SCBWI Carolinas. Time to turn off email, Facebook, twitter–not that I’m huge on tweeting.

I love to multitask, although I think that I have lost a little of that edge from not doing it as  consistently and constantly as when we were raising the girls. But this isn’t about multitasking or about IS GOOGLE MAKING US STUPID?  When we multitask we don’t have the opportunity to go deep. That is like googling an answer and then thinking we are smart. But we aren’t. The article suggests that by such a cursory view of so much material we are changing the synapsis in our brains.

Personally, I like my brain, and I liked the way I could spend hours in the library researching my senior english essay for Shakespeare’s 400th birthday, or my high school senior thesis on World War II spies, or  my graduate thesis on Jacob Burckhardt  [and yes, lol, I’m linking to wikipedia]. I liked that level of concentration on a research subject. I liked that ability to synthesize information. And it’s hard to do with all the electronic and non-elecontronic bombarding us every minute.

This transition time, these two days each way, gives my brain a chance to reconnect, to think, to be ready to accept five presentations, a critique and a group critique at this retreat.

I like this transition time!