Miles from Monday: Hunkering Down

October 29, 2012, Washington, DC: Suffice it to say this is no typical Monday. Already laundry is in the dryer and chili is on the stove. Crossword complete. Floors vacuumed. Leftovers gone. Nearly nap time. Hurricane Sandy is approaching my East Coast hometowns, and she's making a longwinded entrance. Southport is evacuated. Wall Street and the subway are closed. The federal government and DC schools sit empty. Our cities are rainy and windy, but mostly they are very grey. I sit down and begin J.K. Rowling's latest book, The Casual Vacancy. Chapter 1 starts like this: 'Monday. Brace yourself.'

Now is the time to hunker down. Sandy has miles to go before our hometowns get back to business.

Miles from Monday is a weekly series focused on venturing out of the spaces we inhabit during our work week and retreating to landscapes that feel far from routine.