Huck Turns 5

Family and friends gathered at Brentwood Lake to celebrate Huck's 5th birthday. The kids played in the water and in the sand before having pizza and then playing some more. While the big kids had water fights and swam to rafts, the little kids took turns on the play structure and were pushed on the swings.

Then it was time for the pinata, followed by cake and gifts. You can see some of the fun in the slide show:



We left the lake when there was barely enough light to pack up, sandy and sated with birthday good cheer.

Simultaneity

In 1997, my friend Christine and I decided to form a writers' group of two. We were both fledgling writers who recognized our mutual need for support and encouragement. We met every other week at the Pie Tin, often at 7am but sometimes a little later in the morning. We would read each other's work, do free-writes together, share books, or try out writing prompts we'd found. We enrolled in a correspondence course in Creative Writing from the University of Iowa and read each other's pieces before sending them off.

After several years of meeting, Christine was writing a novel and I'd enrolled in an MFA program. We decided that we needed to expand our network, and we each invited another writer and so become a group of 4. When Arlyn and Joan joined us, we got more focused and formalized a very effective critique group protocol. Christine's commitment to her book-length project provided the motivation that I needed to step away from writing personal essays and start my own book.

To gain momentum on our book projects, Christine and I went away for 7 days in 2002 and stayed in a cabin at a rustic resort in Philo, CA. For the entire 7 days, we invoked a no-talking rule, except for during an evening check-in and our mid-day walk. We wanted to get lots of work done and we did! Christine finished the first draft of her novel that week and I transcribed about 10 audio-tapes for my book and completed an outline for the rest of my project.

Sometime after this, Christine moved to San Francisco and Joan had health issues that forced her to drop out of our group. Arlyn and I invited two more writing friends to the group, and I forged ahead on my book. Christine and I stayed in contact, talking occasionally on the phone or meeting for tea when she was in town. She had put her novel aside after taking a playwriting class and had begun work on a script. I was working on the third, then fourth, and finally the fifth revision of my book.

Then this summer a remarkable thing happened. The publication of my book, Between Two Women, coincided with the production of her play "Unforgettable." The weekend of my book launch at the Opera Hall, Christine's play was being produced at Black Bart Players Theater in Murphys. This was not a planned occurrence, though the simultaneity was undoubtedly inevitable.

Our writers' journeys are entwined in time and space. On one marvelous weekend, we shared the fear and elation of making our work public. We smiled with joy and a deep sense of accomplishment. Today we have a tea date to consider the next steps in our writing adventures.

Book Launch

I must admit that a long line of people stretching away from a book signing table can sure make a writer feel like an author!

Beyond that snaking line, Book Launch Day was amazing in so many ways. The gathering of friends and family from near and far was sheer delight: Raymond & Bonnie, my brothers, my son, my mother's best friend, Cindy's parents, sister & nephew, colleagues from the college, friends from the gym, yoga, meditation, the community and my new freelance business. There were friends of Carol's that I'd never met, along with many of the writers I've worked with over the years in various groups. Those who lived too far away to come sent best wishes. My sister sent yellow roses which adorned the podium and friends from Antioch sent cards! My cyber friends sent email cards and posted announcements on their blogs.

The room was elegant, with slants of sunlight pouring through the Opera Hall windows to accent Marianne's astute plan for decorating and arranging the room. The food was phenomenal in no small part because of the women in the kitchen--most notably Cindy's mom and sister-- cutting, chopping, and warming the delicious array. Bartenders Cynthia and Ilana were dressed in ruffled tuxedo shirts with purple adornments. The two kept the wine, beer, and soda flowing with their smiling good cheer. As folks arrived they conscientiously worked on the Trivia Quiz after signing the guest book.

When those assembled gathered for the start of the program, my dear friend Morgan charmed everyone with a warm and witty introduction. I stayed grounded for my part with the exception of a cracking voice and a few tears when I thanked Culley for underwriting the publication of the book. The audience laughed and clapped and played along competitively when we checked the quiz for winners. And wouldn't you know it, Raymond won the grand prize! The applause at the end included calls for Carol which brought her to the stage as everyone stood to acknowledge her bravery and their love!

While people gathered around the chocolate fondue, visited in little clusters, and enjoyed the mingle-music from a playlist compiled by Andrea, I signed books and basked in congratulatory remarks. What an amazing reward after five years spent writing the book and another three trying to get it published. Cindy sat nearby selling books to the folks who then stepped into the signing line. I've never had so many hugs and kisses in one day . . . I'm filled to the brim with sweet regard.

Come back tomorrow for a post about simultaneity . . .

ph

The Blitz

Cindy and I keep a pretty tidy house, but over the past few weeks things have gotten out of control. When we came home from our respective day's work yesterday, what we saw was pretty intolerable: piles of unread newspapers, magazines, and mail; half emptied boxes and bags from my trip to Baker station; Cindy's car-tote with all of her work related paraphernalia; piles of videos she'd acquired from free-cycle; bags and bags of decorations and other stuff for the book launch; all of my DSP&S review materials spread on the dining room table. The counter was strewn with Baker Station notes, my unfinished grade report, a Paperback book swap mailer that needed attention; unfilled prescriptions and empty supplement bottles, change for the change jar, and two broken micro-tape-recorders from work on the Columbia College memory project. In the laundry room, there were piles of campfire smoked blankets and clothing waiting to be washed once the clean laundry on top of the dryer was put away. Our offices each had their own unique messes of un-attended business. The floors were gritty with tracked in debris--smashed oleander blossoms, grass cuttings, sand and dirt from camp boxes, not to mention drips of liquid antibiotic from Cindy's attempts to medicate Ebby in my absence (that's my job and she failed miserably while I was gone).

Without speaking a word, we looked at each other and commenced a BLITZ: a 20-minute work-as-fast-as-you-can session to get things orderly. After 20 minutes when things were looking pretty darn good, she grabbed the vacuum and I the broom and after another 10 minutes we were sitting in a reasonably clean house once again. WHEW!

High Country Bliss

As Cherie and I were packing up after our class at Baker Station, she said to me: "And we get paid for this!" Indeed, it was hard to believe that we were getting paid for a blissful weekend in the high country with 20 enthusiastic and engaged students who spent 2 full days writing furiously and performing powerful yoga asanas.

I could write so much about the wonders of the weekend, but I have to turn my attention to the next two huge remaining projects for August: the Columbia College memory book and my own book launch. So I'm just going to post a couple of pictures that give a tiny taste of the weekend and conclude by saying how grateful I am for the opportunity to teach with Cherie in such an idyllic setting.

The pictures in this order are:
1. Warrior 2 atop a rock formation
2. Mindfulness practice while designing a fruit plate
3. My sleeping spot
4. The view UP from my sleeping spot

No pictures of folks writing as I was working then and too engaged to remember to snap a photo but believe me this group did a lot of writing.

Baker Station

I'm heading to Baker Station to co-teach a yoga/creative writing workshop entitled "Embodying the Flow." The setting is rustic and refreshing with towering pines and granite backdrop. This is a picture of the dormitory cabin where many of the participants stay. This year, I'm opting to camp out in the woods behind the station.

My co-teacher Cherie leads the yoga part in a little cabin that we call the "Ripening Room," while my venue is outside in what we call the Gathering Circle.

Combining body work with writing is not something we invented, but we think the opportunity to do this work in the incomparable Sierra Nevada is unique. In addition to a yoga hike, one of the exercises is focused on mindfully cutting and eating fruit. Here is a creation from last year. After eating the fruit, the next step is to take the juicy experience to the page and try to make it as marvelous in writing as it was in the doing.

We have great fun-- stretching, journaling, hiking, breathing deeply and eating well. Watch for a full report upon my return.

Ebby & Tweety

We have two black cats!

Ebby came with her litter mate Idgy who disappeared when the two were a year old. Idgy was always the more playful and fun kitty while Ebby was aloof and full of claw. She is a pleasant companion if you take her on her own terms: scared and unfriendly. She does, however, always acknowledge a greeting with a purr, and when Cindy comes home in the evening she faithfully meets her in the driveway and drops and rolls for a good scratch. Her only other consistent human contact is her unfathomable desire to sit in Cindy's lap when we watch TV or a video which is infrequent. However, whenever she spots Cindy in the recliner watching TV, she runs as fast as her pudgy frame will allow and leaps into her lap where she purrs so loudly we usually have to turn up the volume on the TV. What I enjoy most about Ebby is her adorable little hip sway when she walks. In the picture, she's the one with squinted eyes and laid back ears.

Tweety is another story altogether. I found her in a give away cage at the feed store-- the last of the litter to find a home. She's a tiny little thing and a superb hunter which is surprising because we think she also has vision problems. The vet can't confirm this, but she does the weirdest things that suggest she might be near-sighted. That doesn't stop her from catching moles, gophers (almost as big as her), field mice, lizards, and all manner of birds. We finally have her trained to keep these prizes outside but not always. She likes to get on the roof every night, but the problem is that she can't remember which side of the house the trellis is on so she can get down. Every night, Cindy has to go out when she hears Tweety madly running back and forth on the roof (her signal that she's ready to come down) and turn on the porch light and call her to the trellis. I didn't believe this assistance was absolutely necessary until one night when Cindy was away and the unending noise of her bounding across the roof forced me out of bed to perform the ritual. One reason she appears to like the roof is bat hunting. She has successfully caught at least one bat mid-air which she brought down for applause.

The cats are an amusing distraction, and if I weren't allergic to cat dander, I'd pet them more and they'd like me a much as they do Cindy.