Month-in-Review Highlights: August 2023

Me in the Black Forest Open Air Museum, a side trip over from the Alsace region. August 9, 2023.

I postmortem each month shortly after it ends. Previously, I used these posts to hold myself accountable on progress toward my annual goals. Starting in January 2023, I broadened these posts to address more generally my observations and experiences for the month. (To read previous months’ reviews, click here.)

Jam-packed months often seem to zoom by, but August felt incredibly long to me this year. Perhaps it felt that way because so much happened that I kept struggling to face that it could all possibly have happened in the same thirty-one days.

We spent the first half of the month in the Alsace and Lorraine regions of France, with a few forays across the border into Germany. (Though when you talk about borders in that part of Europe, you always need to add what era: In this case, the current one. After all, not that long ego the border changed every few years, back and forth between different countries.)

All this to say that you can expect a few posts upcoming about where to go and what to do while there—and all this to explain the one post that already did go live about what to eat in Strasbourg.

August’s last-minute trip threw me even further behind in my goal to have the first full draft of my second novel manuscript finished by the end of the year. I can still make it happen—I will still make it happen!—but I don’t have much slack in the calendar before the end of December, especially with current commitments. It’s push time.

We got back and it was go-go-go to get caught up in so many areas, including my writing, that I rather wish I’d scheduled less for the second half of the month than I did or that I had gotten more of an advance on my to-dos before I left, simply to have more breathing space and resting time the second half of the month. The last two weeks of August had a lot of fun in them, but I wound down the month feeling more wiped out than restored. And that with a busy September ahead.

And September has already begun, with its expected fast-pace and copious to-dos, in addition to some delays to catch up on with my writing. I’ll leave you in suspense to hear about all my September adventures in next month’s review post.

I hope your summer has wound down beautifully and that you have a peaceful and beautiful autumn ahead!