2024 Session 2: TLQuest week 6

If you're busy this week/when reading this, the weekly goals and prompts are right at the bottom after the list of last week's goals, just skip the earlier stuff! 

Midsummer already!  Days will be getting shorter from now on and our mid-session check in with our goals is next week (imagine me putting my fingers in my ears, closing my eyes and singing "lalala" really loudly to help me ignore all those things).  Last week we talked about small annoying tasks and keeping them in their place - this week let's have a chat about how we park work when we're done for day, to minimise how much it can overflow into the precious summer stuff!  A former version of this group introduced the "parking on a downhill slope" metaphor (I think that was coined by Notorious PhD?), which I continue to use and share as widely as I can.  Any other handy phrases, or specific tips on HOW you park your work so you can put it out of your mind, especially when working on longer tasks?

THIS WEEK'S GAMEPLAY

Everyone feels reassured enough to take on Silas' errand, and when Scout has returned and Silas has woken up from his nap, you tell him so.  He looks very relieved, and sets to work making sure you have what you need.  Scout asked about the dog - the dog seems happy, dim and very much three legged.  Looking around the place, she'll also see that one of the cats has only one working eye, but seems just as cared for and cat-content as the others.

Silas will show Scout his own map of the local area (which is amateurish but legible) and point out the general location where he usually finds the herbs, and an abandoned cottage about an hour's walk from the woods which he says is a great place for an overnight camp as it has a well and an intact hearth for a fire and cooking, and the remaining walls provide some shelter if the night is chilly.  He'll write a short letter stating that the group are acting on his behalf, show the note to Alice so she can be sure it doesn't say "rob these imposters", then seal it and hand it over.  He'll give you a tiny carved wooden acorn on a silver chain, and tell the group that this will have the same message for anyone they encounter who doesn't read, or prefers symbols.  He'll also direct Linnet to the correct drawer in his workbench where she can find finely woven linen bags, collecting vials and a well made herb-cutting knife, and tells her that he trusts her to not collect too much of anything, but he'll happily pay for several bags of each plant.  And he says that you should have no trouble finding the plants, you clearly have the right skills among your group and anyway, there are some helpful small folk in the wood who will set you right if you have a problem.  As you get ready to leave, Silas' neighbour is just arriving to make sure the animals get fed, and she thanks you for helping out in the garden because "he will over do it, he worries about them plants as if they was babbies"

It's late afternoon by now - when you go back to the inn, your activities are clearly already known - Mistress Underwood, the neighbour, just general village observations, who knows?  The landlord says that your meal tonight is free as you're helping out Silas, and offers to pack up some basics for your trip to the woods as well.  Despite the suspicions of some members of the group, dunner is good and unadulterated, and you set out the next morning with a couple of loaves of fresh bread, a very solid slab of fruitcake, a bag of stored apples which are a bit shrivelled but still sweet-smelling, and a good hunk of bacon to add to whatever rations you carry or forage yourselves. 

You set off the next morning bright and early, your path taking you first through the village and its fields, then into the grazing lands where you pass a swineherd and a couple of outlying cottages, then into less managed country, mostly scrubby with some stands of woodland.  The path you're following is quite clear, with minimal need for Scout's skills to keep you on track, and the landscape feels safe with plenty of bird and insect activity, and Scout and Linnet will spot several signs of deer and rabbits and other small critters.  You make good time (everyone having two legs doubtless helps) and are able to make camp at the cottage and be comfortably settled in by dusk.  Some helpful previous traveller left kindling and firewood stacked, and there's even an old but usable earth toilet which someone has maintained enough that the seat is smooth and solid, there's a wooden shovel and a pile of dirt and ashes for use, and there's enough of a fence around it for privacy - camping luxury!  You can see Darkthorn Woods ahead of you, spreading up a slope and forming the horizon.  It doesn't look ominous, exactly, but it's very present in the landscape even though it's an hours walk away.

What is your character like as a companion on a walk like this (do they get distracted by butterflies, have a rigid sense of pace and schedule, sing or tell stories as they go)? How is your character feeling as they settle down, and what is their plan for tomorrow? 

LAST WEEK’S GOALS

DAISY

URGENT Submit revisions for Paper 2
Start on new paper and finish at least the data and intro sections
Endless meetings
Run three times, strength two times
Real Summer 1: try again for the fancy food truck lunch
Real Summer 2: go to a beach

DAME ELEANOR

1. Write report on MS I'm reviewing for a press
2. 1 unit Greek
3. Write or at least outline the intro and conclusion to Alms
4. Do something else worth reporting (ex. make an appointment, get a picture framed, tidy the linen closet)
5. Make some plans with friends for another upcoming trip.

HEU MIHI

1. Work through chapter 2 draft; enter edits to chapter 1
2. Finish reading RM book
3. Work on Zero Waste pamphlet; do my share of updates for the recycling pamphlet
4. Contact estate lawyer for mom (contact mom first); try to set up a meeting
5. Return some balloons (don't ask)
6. Take notes on the book I read recently
7. Preliminary research for my part of the festschrift proposal

JANEB

1. self-care: tick off at least 75% of the regular chores list, plan what to do with the decluttering woman, sort the Clothes Pile Of Doom, additional intentional movement three days, do physio recommended stretches with great caution at least once, practice rest as needed, keep my mobile phone on grey-scale mode.
2. fun: play D&D, knit some, draw something (nibling's birthday is soon so a card for that would be good), read something
3. teaching and administration: three blocks of teaching preparation from my list, ensure I have up to date information on all the students doing placement years
4. one step on other service task, Slowly Developing Paper meeting and two hours of follow up work, at least half an hour on Neglected Paper. I should probably add something else but I don't feel motivated to!

JULIE:

1. Lots of end-of-term meetings.
2. More dissertation meetings.
3. One day at least on grant application.
4. Review meeting for a PhD student
5. Register for a conference in July
6. Summer travel - book train tickets, travel insurance for daughter.
7. Do some decluttering.
8. Make a start on major bathroom project.

SUSAN

1. Write to presses
2. Start doing what I propose with Famous Author
3. Read two articles for journals and just get them DONE.
4. Enjoy social life.
5. Keep reading for fun

IN SUMMARY:

Your TLQuest prompt is: What is your character like as a companion on a walk like this (do they get distracted by butterflies, have a rigid sense of pace and schedule, sing or tell stories as they go)? How is your character feeling as they settle down, and what is their plan for tomorrow as you enter the woods? Who will be doing what? (searching for the herbs, looking our for threats, communing with any woodland creatures...)

Your real-world TLQ prompt is: weekly check in, plus how do you park your work at the end of a session so that you can put it out of your mind to enjoy summer things (or just be present in the rest of your life)?