Still Working . . . — Donna Hopkins

I woke up around 4am with digestive distress. (I wish I could say this is uncommon but it is not. I’ve been working through a flare-up of IBS-D which is just not fun). Distraction, along with a heating pad, often helps to lessen my discomfort so it makes me feel better to work. I spent the early morning hours updating my current project, A Guidebook For Small Travels.

I’ve been working on this travelogue for over 6 months and it’s been enlightening to see the benefits of the long and slow approach. The focus of the book has become sharper with the scope limited to local travels—rather than my first go round of just any picture that fit the theme of travel and the aesthetic of colorful. I’ve weeded out pictures that just didn’t work for one reason or the other. And considered what I might like to add to finish things off. I’m thinking of trying to work in some sort of collage page that features all of the places I love to pick fruit. This would be orchards and farms. That might work. And I have 3 rolls of film to develop from our recent travels that might have a picture or two worth adding to the book. I’m still holding out for our Richmond zoo trip and Patterson mini golf, too. But it’s important that the project be about the process and not the product. This travelogue is not a bucket list of places to tick off. That’s one of the great things about making a book using images I’ve already made. It reflects our actual life and places we really go and things we really love to do. It’s not aspirational or performative.

I want to add a dedication page. I’d love to see if I can stretch my creative skills and write a short essay, though I’m not sure at all what I have to say. It’s worth trying.