117. MacDowell

Mixter. My little home in the woods for two weeks.I’m back. I learned very early that two weeks1 is not nearly enough time to take advantage of a MacDowell2 residency.In the weeks leading up to mine, I was wrapping up deliverables, juggling family obligations, and overwhelmed by a mile-long todo list. Travel makes me anxious, packing takes forever. I felt constantly on the verge of falling ill from exhaustion and stress.Packed, finally.The morning of my four-hour drive from New York, I was so frazzled that I immediately (and uncharacteristically) lost the keyfob to my rental. I ran late trying to find it, which worsened the frazz. It was clearly somewhere in the car because I could turn it on (a grace), but the idea of loading it up or making pit stops without being able to lock it, belongings in full view, was harrowing. Obviously everything turned out ok, but this gives you an idea of the state in which I arrived.On my second or third morning at MacDowell, I was sitting on my back…