So Long

Many, many people have left work for hiatus over the last week, the hiatus that changed and changed again, and may change one more time before all is said and done. There have been some hugs, but mostly just a whole lot of "see you in a few weeks." I am not good at saying "goodbye," you see, much better at just "so long."
 
It's not that I've never done this hiatus thing before. When I worked on Cosby, not only were there weeks off between three or four week cycles of production, there was a full-blown hiatus from April to August, during which time you assumed you would be "invited back," but were never quite sure until that phone call in July. And while I missed my Cosby family for those months, I spent time with my own family (one of my daughters was a "hiatus baby," so I was pretty occupied that year), my ABC family (I freelanced a bunch), and with making an educational video. It was time off, but time well spent.
 
So, now, hiatus is just about upon me again. But this time, it is not a whole production team leaving at once. It is daily goodbyes and corridors that get emptier, and a same, yet different, anticipation of the family getting back together again. And if I think back to the hiatus months from Cosby, I can remind myself of all the great things that can come out of a little down time. There won't be any hiatus babies here, but perhaps there will be another independent project or some freelancing or some trips to amusement parks with my kids. Because we're not saying "goodbye." We're just saying "so long."