I love garage sales. Not only are they a great way to recycle and reuse, they're a good buy for the money (especially from a kid point of view when every quarter counts), and for treasure hunters like me, you never know what you're supposed to find.
Take today, for example. After running to the post office during my lunch break, I drove past a sign for a subdivision sale. Normally, I would have ignored the impulse to take a look in order to finish up my errands, and get back to my writing. However, since I'd just returned from C's fabulous Sooke Writer's Retreat where the mantra was to honor your creative heart, and be open to its needs, I indulged my muse, curious where she would lead me.
I drove by all of the garages. Except one.
Remembering the house now, I can't particularly say what attracted me to it. Baby and toddler toys lined the driveway. A set of TV trays and old lamps stood nearby. We're way done with babies, and we've plenty of lights to read by. So, why was I here anyway?
I should have left. I nearly did. Until something at the back of the garage caught my eye.
Books. A whole table of them.
I searched through the piles. Thrillers. Kids summer readers. Teacher aides. Cookbooks. Nothing to get excited about. Except...what's this? Under an outdated children's reader, I discovered a pristine copy of Julia Cameron's The Vein of Gold, A Journey to Your Creative Heart.
Goosebumps moment. Especially since one of the main goals of C's Retreat was learning how to access our creative selves through play. I took up the book, losing the urge to comb the rest of the neighborhood for any other treasures.
Many of my friends believe there are no coincidences, only God incidences. I'm convinced this is one of those moments.
Friday, June 30, 2006
Tuesday, June 27, 2006
Enter the Forest
The June/July issue of Edge of the Forest has appeared on cyber newsstands. Surf on by for kid lit reviews, A Day in the Life with Leda Schubert, interview with Esme Codell of PlanetEsme about what's hot with young readers this summer, and more.
There and Back Again
The return home from C's fabulous first annual Sooke Writer's Retreat on Vancouver Island in British Columbia began Sunday with an early morning drive into Sidney in time to clear customs and catch the first sailing of the Washington Ferry.
No whale or porpoise sitings during the two-and-a-half-hour ride through the San Juan Islands. However, we did spot seals bobbing in the water both ways.
After docking in Anacortes, Washington (and making an "emergency" stop for lattes), we drove two hours nonstop to Seattle's awesome All For Kids Bookstore in time to make fox ears, and hear author and Vermont College faculty member Laura McGee Kvasnosky read from her delightful new book Zelda and Ivy, the Runaways. J met up with one of her college roommates after the reading. M, K and I hugged J good-bye, before ending the day with fish and chips along the waterfront.
Seattle was unusually clear and warm Sunday. Couples and families strolled the walking paths along the harbor. Mount Rainier loomed in the distance, its steep snow-covered slopes blazing in the afternoon light. After dinner, M and I drove K to the airport where we learned her flight had been delayed. Since K was officially a year older based on New York time, we combed the main drag near the airport for a Dairy Queen (K's first choice for a birthday treat), ending up at a Denny's instead. There, a very tired waiter good naturedly allowed M and K to give him specific directions on how he should build the banana split the two of them shared (chocolate sauce on chocolate, strawberry on strawberry, nothing on the vanilla, whipped cream and nuts on everything).
Once K was safely delivered to the airport, M and I headed north to M's for the night. By the time we unloaded the car and crawled under the covers, it was past 1 a.m.
Aside from the fact that I almost missed my connecting flight yesterday because I'd failed to account for a time-zone change, the last leg of my journey was less eventful. Sudoku and Short & Shivery ghost stories retold by Robert D. San Souci kept me busy on both flights. No luggage lost. Best of all, my girls met me at the airport.
On tap for the rest of the day: unpacking, laundry, organizing of notes from the week, more reading and analysis of ghost stories in preparation for writing one of my own for an anthology, and finalizing the work plan I drafted while in BC.
No whale or porpoise sitings during the two-and-a-half-hour ride through the San Juan Islands. However, we did spot seals bobbing in the water both ways.
After docking in Anacortes, Washington (and making an "emergency" stop for lattes), we drove two hours nonstop to Seattle's awesome All For Kids Bookstore in time to make fox ears, and hear author and Vermont College faculty member Laura McGee Kvasnosky read from her delightful new book Zelda and Ivy, the Runaways. J met up with one of her college roommates after the reading. M, K and I hugged J good-bye, before ending the day with fish and chips along the waterfront.
Seattle was unusually clear and warm Sunday. Couples and families strolled the walking paths along the harbor. Mount Rainier loomed in the distance, its steep snow-covered slopes blazing in the afternoon light. After dinner, M and I drove K to the airport where we learned her flight had been delayed. Since K was officially a year older based on New York time, we combed the main drag near the airport for a Dairy Queen (K's first choice for a birthday treat), ending up at a Denny's instead. There, a very tired waiter good naturedly allowed M and K to give him specific directions on how he should build the banana split the two of them shared (chocolate sauce on chocolate, strawberry on strawberry, nothing on the vanilla, whipped cream and nuts on everything).
Once K was safely delivered to the airport, M and I headed north to M's for the night. By the time we unloaded the car and crawled under the covers, it was past 1 a.m.
Aside from the fact that I almost missed my connecting flight yesterday because I'd failed to account for a time-zone change, the last leg of my journey was less eventful. Sudoku and Short & Shivery ghost stories retold by Robert D. San Souci kept me busy on both flights. No luggage lost. Best of all, my girls met me at the airport.
On tap for the rest of the day: unpacking, laundry, organizing of notes from the week, more reading and analysis of ghost stories in preparation for writing one of my own for an anthology, and finalizing the work plan I drafted while in BC.
Wednesday, June 21, 2006
Retreat Report
One goal of mine while here at C's is to return home with a work plan like the one developed during residency at Vermont College. So far so good. Thanks to late night talks and afternoon creative exercises, I've started a reading list, begun a list of potential projects, and kept notes so I can detail how I'll go about pursuing each project. I've even begun to rank my work projects so I know which ones to pursue first.
So far the week's been true to C's promise of play. We've colored with crayons. We've made sand castles at the beach. We've gone rock hunting. We've hiked along streams, and through virgins stands of pine forests, and loped through open fields ripe with wildflowers.
Vancouver Island is so wild and beautiful, filled with moss-covered boulders, virgin pine forests, and clear mountain streams. A couple of nights ago while walking back to the H's house from the red barn (where the retreat's being held), we startled a deer. It must have been grazing right next to the trail, but this place is so dark (read no street lights for miles) we didn't see the buck until we were upon it. As soon as we neared, it bounded off into the woods, a black crashing shape. Silent, heart pounding I clamped onto the nearest arm, and rushed to the H's front door.
To give you an idea of how untamed this place is we've been asked to hike with at least one partner and to take along a walking stick for protection. Fresh bear scat was found near the stream on Monday. And the neighbors sighted a cougar the day before we arrived.
So far the week's been true to C's promise of play. We've colored with crayons. We've made sand castles at the beach. We've gone rock hunting. We've hiked along streams, and through virgins stands of pine forests, and loped through open fields ripe with wildflowers.
Vancouver Island is so wild and beautiful, filled with moss-covered boulders, virgin pine forests, and clear mountain streams. A couple of nights ago while walking back to the H's house from the red barn (where the retreat's being held), we startled a deer. It must have been grazing right next to the trail, but this place is so dark (read no street lights for miles) we didn't see the buck until we were upon it. As soon as we neared, it bounded off into the woods, a black crashing shape. Silent, heart pounding I clamped onto the nearest arm, and rushed to the H's front door.
To give you an idea of how untamed this place is we've been asked to hike with at least one partner and to take along a walking stick for protection. Fresh bear scat was found near the stream on Monday. And the neighbors sighted a cougar the day before we arrived.
Monday, June 19, 2006
Vancouver Island Bound
Greetings from Seattle. Took two flights, a layover and 300 plus pages of The Book Thief (which I finished), but I arrived safely Saturday night. Did the requisite tour of Seattle yesterday before meeting K and J at the airport. We walked the downtown, toured Pier 52 and the famous fish market, ate seafood marinara at a place called the Crab Pot, strolled by the original Starbucks, drove past the houseboats and the Space Needle, and last, but not least, visited Seattle's largest independent bookstore, The Elliott Bay Book Company. What a glorious place! Located in Seattle's famous Pioneer Square, the bookstore boasts 150,000 new and used titles. Books, books everywhere. My kind of heaven.
Today, M drives K, J and I to the ferry where we'll travel north along the sound to Vancouver Island. C's to meet us in Sidney, just outside of Victoria, after the three-hour ride. From there, she'll drive us to her parent's place where we'll await the arrival of other former classmates. Then the fun begins. I'm unsure how connected I'll be on the island but will try to check in as the retreat progresses.
Today, M drives K, J and I to the ferry where we'll travel north along the sound to Vancouver Island. C's to meet us in Sidney, just outside of Victoria, after the three-hour ride. From there, she'll drive us to her parent's place where we'll await the arrival of other former classmates. Then the fun begins. I'm unsure how connected I'll be on the island but will try to check in as the retreat progresses.
Friday, June 16, 2006
I Need a Clone: Writerly To-Do List and Retreat Prep
Aaack! My to-do list includes so many Post-Its I need a list for all my lists.
Here are just a few of the tasks I must check off before leaving Saturday for the first leg of my journey to C's First Annual Vancouver Island Writer's Retreat:
1. Put out signs and sandwich boards for this weekend's church resale. Price and sort last-minute donations. Bake cake this am with a handful of other volunteers for the church's chicken ala king dinner this weekend. (This Canal Days tradition benefits church missions).
2. Finalize and submit critique group crits. (Judging by the growing length of my to-do list, I might end up doing these on the plane.)
3. Proof my Edge of the Forest articles before the June/July issue hits the cyber newsstands.
4. Decide on retreat workshop piece, make appropriate number of copies, and select potential projects to work on during the week.
5. Back-up my PC before traveling with it.
6. Print out boarding pass for the flight to Seattle where I'll spend the weekend with M, K and J before taking the ferry to Vancouver Island on Monday.
7. Pack enough clothes for nine days, raincoat and umbrella for the three-hour ferry ride, camera for whale sightings along the way, birth certificate for traveling across the border, notebooks and voice recorder for journaling and brainstorming, backpack for day hikes, pleasure books (including my current read, The Book Thief) and craft books (including Natalie Goldberg's The Essential Writer's Notebook and Noah Lukeman's The Plot Thickens.)
8. Create a detailed schedule for P so he knows where each of the girls needs to be while I'm away.
Here are just a few of the tasks I must check off before leaving Saturday for the first leg of my journey to C's First Annual Vancouver Island Writer's Retreat:
1. Put out signs and sandwich boards for this weekend's church resale. Price and sort last-minute donations. Bake cake this am with a handful of other volunteers for the church's chicken ala king dinner this weekend. (This Canal Days tradition benefits church missions).
2. Finalize and submit critique group crits. (Judging by the growing length of my to-do list, I might end up doing these on the plane.)
3. Proof my Edge of the Forest articles before the June/July issue hits the cyber newsstands.
4. Decide on retreat workshop piece, make appropriate number of copies, and select potential projects to work on during the week.
5. Back-up my PC before traveling with it.
6. Print out boarding pass for the flight to Seattle where I'll spend the weekend with M, K and J before taking the ferry to Vancouver Island on Monday.
7. Pack enough clothes for nine days, raincoat and umbrella for the three-hour ferry ride, camera for whale sightings along the way, birth certificate for traveling across the border, notebooks and voice recorder for journaling and brainstorming, backpack for day hikes, pleasure books (including my current read, The Book Thief) and craft books (including Natalie Goldberg's The Essential Writer's Notebook and Noah Lukeman's The Plot Thickens.)
8. Create a detailed schedule for P so he knows where each of the girls needs to be while I'm away.
Jewel Report: Good News
Tuesday's walk-through of the school with Jewel and E went much better than expected. Instead of another barrage of questions about Jewel's potential to disrupt others, and appropriateness at school, discussion centered around how Jewel will be integrated into every aspect of E's school day.
Encouraging turn around, and such a relief. Gives me hope that the needs of the few (so often devalued by the majority) will be protected in this case, after all.
Encouraging turn around, and such a relief. Gives me hope that the needs of the few (so often devalued by the majority) will be protected in this case, after all.
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