Skip to main content

Writers' Group Field Trip

I have belonged to a writers' group at the Jericho Town Library for a number of years now.  In fact, I just realized I have participated since its inception.  The group has changed members over the years, numbers growing and falling off.

Right now there are three of us who meet on a fairly regular basis--the goal is every other week, but of course life sometimes intrudes on that plan.  We work on our separate projects and meet to share and offer feedback and support.  This has become such an important part of my life as have the the two women who have become writerly colleagues and friends.

Sometimes we go on a field trip together.  Yesterday we went to a public event that was part of this summer's Middlebury College writer's conference at their Bread Loaf Campus.  You can see a video and a slide show of the campus HERE.  You can get more information Here.

We attended a reading from a novel in progress by Margot Livesey.  I could only sigh at the craft in the hands of a master.  And Alan Shapiro read poetry that striped down to the bone.  And to shamelessly name drop, Julia Alvarez sat just across the aisle from us.  We were cool--Jen and Margaret and I--but on the inside we were like teenage girls at a Beatles concert in the late '60s.  Wow.

I consider the Bread Loaf Campus sacred ground.  Mike and I were married in the nearby Robert Frost forest.  This was a trip that fed my soul and affirmed my spirit.  And I needed that.

Comments

  1. If only that talent could rub off on those neaby!!

    ReplyDelete
  2. I used to love writers' conferences, but I haven't attended one in ages. Glad you enjoyed yours.

    ReplyDelete
  3. How wonderful. We all need to regenerate our souls now and again. Better yet when you can do it with friends.

    ReplyDelete
  4. I finally Googled your town of Jericho to see where you live. You are quite northerly! And I didn't quite get the name "Bread Loaf" until I realized it was a mountain!
    Good for you for feeding your soul. We all need to do that more often.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Wow! It is not often that one can be exhilarated like girls at a Beetles concert, shamelessly name drop, and attend to the spiritual needs of one's Soul. Lovely trip. It sound like your friends are a wonderful match for you.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Well, good for you! I am glad you enjoy these outings. I used to belong to 3 writers groups but have stopped going to meetings due to sheer laziness. I prefer to knock around the house with David.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Sounds rewarding in many ways, and I'm sure that campus is beautiful in the summertime.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Middlebury is where I wanted to go to college - an impossibility because of the cost. However, they have a glorious campus and Bread Loaf is iconic. Glad you were part of it all.

    ReplyDelete
  9. At a quick glance I thought your post said "Winter writers group"! Not Yet! -- the campus looks wonderful! What a fabulous place! I bet you had such a wonderful time! I would love to go on such an outing! My good friend who was a poet and a writer passed away a few years ago. She was my inspiration! I plan to work on my writing of children's stories this fall. Thanks for sharing! Maybe you could share some of your poems!

    ReplyDelete
  10. Use to belong to a writer's group here but they disbanded. It was fun and stimulating. Never been to a conference. Lucky you.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

I appreciate readers' comments so much. You don't even always have to agree with me.

Popular posts from this blog

It's TIme

 It's been a while since I have posted anything and even my reading your posts is falling by the wayside. I am in Florida now. I have a yard where little attention was spent on landscaping for the past years so I am slowly and (somewhat) methodically addressing that. I also volunteer to work at the pollinator garden and the edible garden I helped install at the UU grounds and I took over the volunteer job of cleaning out the overgrown community garden by my neighborhood mailboxes. The neighbor who was doing that got sick and could no longer attend to it. It's a bigger job than I'd thought at first -- not only overgrown with weeds, but the plants that are wanted there are in life and death competition for each others' spaces. And two walks a day, morning and evening, so Levi can keep up with addiction to canine social media and a daily rousing came of stick or ball midday take up another chunk of my time. I have a weekly meditation group that I co-facilitate, and my own ...

Life Goes On

There is nothing like a visit from the grand children to remind one that life goes on.  I spent Friday night at my daughter's and then brought the kids back home with me.  I did not get to see so much of them this past summer and it was a birthday gift to my daughter (who just turned 40!) to have a couple of days to herself. She probably spent them in her son's room playing Lego StarWars.  Dane tried to teach me how to play this video game--a hopeless task if ever there was one.  "Concentrate, Grandma!  You have to concentrate!"  I do have a hard time with sustained concentration lately, but in this case I had no clue what it was that needed concentration.  He finally took the controls away from me (thank-you!). It's amazing how long he can amuse himself at my house being out side on a scooter or helping me in the yard, especially if it involves a hose.  Inside, they both sit and draw or craft for hours.  Just before bed, Dane did say, "N...

Eggplant

Mike and I considered ourselves soul mates, but we definitely were not culinary mates.  Mike liked what he liked and disliked what he disliked and he never changed his mind about things like that.  He did not eat mayonnaise.  He did not eat tomato sauce.  He did not eat cooked vegetables except for corn, peas and green beans.  He did not eat onions cooked or otherwise.  He did not eat casseroles ever since they were a combination of things he didn't eat anyway. I did not like mushrooms as a kid and eggplant just made me gag, but my tastes changed,  Foods I found disgusting as a child are now among my favorites--mushrooms, eggplant, avocados, asparagus, eggs, spinach, brussel sprouts, herbs and spices. I will admit that I never developed a taste for liver (nor do I want to). I made this Moussakka a while ago and ate it every day for a week.  I froze half of it but ended up thawing it out right away. It consists of sliced eggplant layered...