"Where I'm From..." by George Ella Lyon

I designed WORD SOUP for groups of about 12 people; the first time I presented it for Field's End, we had six or seven participants. This year, we had 18 people at our first session - the beautiful West Reading Room at the Poulsbo library was filled with writers!

The energy around the table was positive and friendly; participants were ready to get right to work (which is really play). It is a joy to see people writing freely, and to have so many of them willing to share what they had written, reading it aloud to the group. We write to prompts, so we are sharing our first-draft work. It takes courage to share your work in a new group, especially writing which you haven't had time to polish, and I see plenty of courage - and talent - in this group.

What makes WORD SOUP especially fun is the fact that I do not allow ANY criticism of this first-draft work; we share only what we remember about the writing which has been read aloud, and what we enjoyed in it. These practices make for a safe, encouraging environment, which allows imagination to flow freely.

Last evening,  I read aloud a poem which was given to me by the out-going leader of Field's End, Barbara Clarke (author of "Getting to Home"). Here it is:

"Where I’m From…" by George Ella Lyon

I am from clothespins,

from Clorox and carbon-tetrachloride.

I am from the dirt under the back porch.

(Black, glistening,

it tasted like beets.)

I am from the forsythia bush

the Dutch elm

whose long-gone limbs I remember

as if they were my own.

I’m from fudge and eyeglasses,

From Imogene and Alafair.

I’m from the know-it-alls

And the pass-it-ons,

From Perk up! and Pipe down!

I’m from He restoreth my soul

with a cottonball lamb

and ten verses I can say myself.

I’m from Artemus and Billie’s Branch,

fried corn and strong coffee,

from the finger my grandfather lost

to the auger,

the eye my father shut to keep his sight.

Under my bed was a dress box

spilling old pictures,

a sift of lost faces

to drift beneath my dreams.

I am from those moments—

snapped before I budded—

leaf-fall from the family tree.

Isn't that a beautiful way to express one's roots?

I offered the poem as a writing prompt for the group. Since I write to the same prompts while the students write, below is my own rough version of "Where I'm From..." I've been tinkering with it, because I am not accustomed to writing poetry; it would be a good idea to consult my poet friends to hear their thoughts.

Where I'm From... by Karen Boren Gerstenberger
I'm from saltwater and sand
Barnacles and Indian beads
I'm from starry nights and wave-song
Salty air and sea-breeze,
Bonfires and make-believe.

I'm from grass stains and cedar cones
Pine pitch and blackberries
Old Man Ghost and Sardines
Beach seines and rope swings.

I'm from the Gold Rush and Great Depression,
Pioneer Square and Capital Hill,
Enatai and Medina,
California and Washington
Kent Valley farm and Olympic Hotel.

I'm from Bavaria and Alsace-Lorraine,
Bronze plaques and fortunes scattered,
Ivy League and West Coast 
Ancient faith and new covenant.

But really, I'm from
Saltwater, lapping the shores of sacred Indian ground.

 

I'm grateful to my colleagues at Field's End, the program staff at Kitsap Regional Library, WORD SOUP groups, and my family for making this work possible. It is a joy!

WORD SOUP, Strolls, the SFDWG, and BIG News

I have so much to tell you that I awoke early this morning, excited to write about it.

I took a weekend trip to Victoria, B.C. with my beloved "Sh*tty First Draft Writing Group." We had a blast, staying in a Victorian duplex belonging to a friend of Reba's. We talked and listened, laughed and cried, ate, drank, enjoyed live music and walked for many miles. We didn't do as much writing as I had anticipated, but what we did was perfect. It is therapeutic to go away with friends and just BE.

Robin and Reba at the Blue Fox Cafe

Teri, Reba and Stefanie at the Irish Times Pub

Robin and me at the Irish Times

Dessert at The Snug, the pub at the Oak Bay Beach Hotel

The five of us at the Snug

I'm leading my WORD SOUP workshop this month for Field's End, every Tuesday night at the Kitsap Regional Library branch in Poulsbo. We have had two sessions, so we are at the halfway point, and it is magical to see the talent, generosity and enthusiasm of the participants. We are nearly bursting at the seams, and it is gratifying to see so many people excited about the craft of writing, all ages encouraging each other and surprising themselves in what they produce. I enjoy leading the group, and writing with them. More about that later...

The spring Stroll for Well-Being at the Bloedel Reserve is also at the halfway mark. On Monday, I facilitated two sessions (morning and afternoon), and was blessed by the group members' sharing of what the strolls have given them. Their experiences certainly prove that the program increases one's well-being.

I love the Reserve, the house and the program so much that at times, it is a little bit difficult to believe that I get to work in such a beautiful environment, and am paid to do it.

The summer session of the Strolls will begin on June 23rd, with the creator and founder of the program, Ruth McCaffrey, here from Florida to kick it off (and me as her co-facilitator). There is still space available in the summer session, and it's free! You'll receive a beautiful journal containing all of the information you need so that you may enjoy the beneficial effects of this program. It is comprised of 12 themed strolls, taken at your own pace, on your own time, during 12 weeks of summer. Contact ejennings@bloedelreserve.org to reserve your place!

The BIG news here is that David is about to begin a new job! He will be moving to Montana (one of his dreams) to work at the Yellowstone Club. Though we love having him with us, we are thrilled for this next phase of his life's adventure, and can hardly wait to visit, once he is settled.

For these gifts (and so much more), I give thanks to God!

WORD SOUP 2015

During the past week, members of Field's End Writers' Community's Core Team met with programming staff of the Kitsap Regional Library. We have a vibrant, welcoming library system here in Kitsap County, and the staff is simply superb. Field's End is a committee of the Bainbridge Public Library (upon whose board I serve), and the Bainbridge Public Library is a part of Kitsap Regional Library, so we are able to share programming resources and information. We are working on new kinds of collaboration, and it is tremendously exciting. I love our libraries!
 
One of these collaborative events is coming up in May: I am going to teach WORD SOUP in the Poulsbo Branch of KRL. Last year, I taught WORD SOUP for Field's End at the Bainbridge Public Library, and this year, KRL Poulsbo has graciously invited me to teach it here. If you are an aspiring writer, a former writer, or a "blocked" writer, we'd love to have you join us for this fun, easy-going yet motivating series. We will meet each Tuesday evening in May from 6:00 - 8:00 P.M. in the West Reading Room of the Poulsbo Library. It's free and all are welcome, but space is limited, so if you'd like to join us, please register at (360)779-2915.

Reiki and Other Blessings

Sunrise on March 8th, 2015

Thank you for your kind thoughts and words around Katie's 20th birthday. We had a lovely day - which is in itself a kind of miracle, considering the circumstances - including a beach walk, delicious brunch at Alchemy Bistro and Wine Bar in Port Townsend, and a movie, with popcorn for dinner. A truly "Katie" kind of day.

Toasting Katie at brunch

Last week, I had the pleasure of accompanying our friend Charlotte on a tour of Building Hope at Seattle Children's Hospital. You may recall that David and I had a brief tour of the building in November for the purpose of a photo shoot, featuring Katie's Comforters Guild in the Guild News.

A patient receiving her blanket from Katie's Comforters Guild, represented by yours truly

On Thursday, Charlotte and I toured the Emergency Department, Cancer Ward and the Cardiac Intensive Care Unit. This new building is a great advancement upon what was available to us during Katie's treatment eight years ago. It is absolutely state-of-the-art, in every way.

There were wonderful surprises for me on this day, as we were met by several staff members who had taken care of Katie at her most fragile: during chemotherapy, and after her 18-hour surgery. It was a pleasure to be able to introduce these gifted caregivers to our friend, and to have them explain to her what they do, and how the facilities in this new building make it possible to make patients and families even more comfortable during the most stressful time in their lives.

We ran into one of Katie's dear oncology nurses

I am grateful to Drs. Baden, Brogan, Jeffries and Mazur for their generosity with their time on Thursday. I'm also thankful for all that they and their colleagues have done (and are doing) to save children's lives, as well as to the nurses and technicians who support their work - and to the donors who made this building possible! It truly is a team effort.

Since taking first-degree (Shoden) Reiki in November, I have been practicing daily, and looking forward to taking the next class (Okuden, or second-degree). I was able to do this a couple of weekends ago through Emerald City Reiki in Seattle.

My certificate of completion, with gratitude to Reiki Master Claire O'Shea.

Reiki brings peace, balance, calmness and relief from physical problems such as pain, digestive upset, stress, insomnia and much more. The potential for healing seems unlimited. The more I read about it, the more I enjoy learning from its practice, for Reiki isn't something that one learns from reading; practice is the most important way to learn. I find it has given me a new way to pray for myself, and others; it has restored a language of prayer which I had lost, and enhanced it, by keeping it free from "dogma." This freedom leads to pure joy and love when practicing Reiki. I think of it as a manifestation of the Holy Spirit, or healing power of God. [If you have questions about it, one of the best books I've read is called "Reiki: A Comprehensive Guide" by Pamela Miles.]

Update on Grandma:  we now have a routine in place for supporting Gregg's parents. We all take turns bringing Grandpa Ed to see Grandma Elaine, sit beside her bed with him until he gets tired, and then take him back to his home in assisted living (we are still waiting for a bed to open for Elaine in the same facility where she and Ed have been living). Gregg visits his mother nearly every day after work.

I am thoroughly enjoying serving on the board of the Bainbridge Public Library. What an interesting and generous group of people! At each meeting, I learn new things, and am grateful for the kindness and sense of community spirit among the members. Last Friday was my first time helping to host an artist's exhibit during the "First Friday" Art Walk. We host a different artist in the Community Room of the library each month. This month, I'll take a class to qualify for a certificate which will allow me to serve wine at these events.

Field's End (a committee of the Bainbridge Public Library) continues to offer opportunities for growth and stimulation for writers in our community. This week, we're hosting a Story Slam at Treehouse Cafe on Bainbridge Island, and on March 20th, there will be an Open Mic at the Poulsbo branch of Kitsap Regional Library. A Travel Writing Workshop will be taught by Perry Garfinkel in May through Field's End. If any of these events sound like fun to you, please visit www.fieldsend.org for more information.

Hello? Anyone Still Out There?

Blogger, how I've missed you! Happy New Year!

I can hardly believe that it's been so long since we've spent time together - reflecting, savoring, sharing moments of meaning. I have missed you so very much, and it feels absolutely wonderful to sit down with you again.

I don't know where to begin. I have kept so much inside, unable to write here due to time constraints, but my photo albums are full of images which tell stories of the past few months when you and I have been apart. I will try to summarize, and begin anew. It is still January, after all.

We went to Palm Desert for Thanksgiving and my mother's birthday...

 cut our tree at the tree farm...

spent Christmas with our Gerstenberger family...

and Boxing Day with some of our Boren family...

and New Year's Day at the park with friends...

and now, Gregg is back at work, as am I, and David continues his search for permanent work.

I have been busy with the Core Team of Field's End Writers' Community, and am a new member of the Bainbridge Island Public Library's Board. We held the annual Board retreat at a place called Yonder - if you've never been there, do check it out. It was a beautiful, peaceful place to begin the year's work.

It's going to be a season filled with new opportunities, responsibilities and relationships - and I am thankful for it.

Poetry, Art & Music

I think of myself as a prose writer. I wrote the occasional poem as a younger person, for school assignments, but it has never been my primary language. Yet I love - and I mean LOVE, memorize and sing - song lyrics of every genre, which of course are poems. And my senior project (for college graduation) incorporated a famous poem.

We were assigned a self-portrait as part of our graduation requirement. This came after I discovered that my fiance had been unfaithful; I had broken our engagement, was facing an unclear future and did not really know how to see myself. In addition, I had not gained great facility with watercolor painting (the favored medium in the art department at that time), so I had not the means to render an accurate self-portrait - but I used it anyway, which says something right there.

I decided upon an abstract composition; then, feeling it was raw and incomplete (which was in fact an accurate portrayal of my self-image at the time), I incorporated a photograph and a roughly hand-lettered fragment of a poem, because it is what came to me. It was not considered a great success by my professor, but it expressed my feelings at the time; even then, as a 21-year old fine art major, I could not suppress the urge to use language in my artwork. So perhaps there is more poetry in my soul than I know - perhaps there is in each one of us - expressed in a variety of ways, not always recognized outright as poetry.

I wrote a poem about the beach when I was a little girl. I remember - and can still see in my mind's eye - the exact place I pictured as I wrote it. I showed the poem to my grandmother, and was happily surprised to find later that she kept it in a drawer in her bedside table. I wish I knew where it was now.

Poetry has been on my mind lately for several reasons. Friends read, write and share poetry; poems appear on blogs and various other places online. I follow a caringbridge site which has exposed me to a wealth of absolutely gorgeous poetry, with which patient and family express their feelings at the end of each update. As a Core Team member of Field's End Writers' Community, poetry has come to my attention as a deep need in the community. Though perhaps not freely acknowledged in mainstream consciousness, poetry is all around us; it's a natural language of the human spirit. We seek poetry to express what may be unutterable in any other form, in our own words or those of others; this makes us feel less alone. Sometimes, these poems are set to music.

This beautiful fusion of music and poetry has been playing in my head for several days. It says a great deal to me about stopping, seeing, feeling, listening, hearing, speaking, silence and being. I hope you will enjoy it. (Video credit: YouTube)

Things Literary

http://books.wwnorton.com/books/Knitting-Yarns/

We went to a superb event on Saturday evening, hosted by Field's End. New York Times best-selling author Ann Hood came to Bainbridge Island and gave a writing workshop in the afternoon. In the evening, we gathered to hear four excellent actors read from her wonderful book, Knitting Yarns (a collection of essays, edited by Ms. Hood). After the reading, she spoke about the book, about her life, and about how she came to be interested in knitting; she was gracious, funny, witty, and engaging. After that, we gathered in the bistro next door for a fun, informal reception and book-signing.

Ann Hood is also the author of Comfort, a memoir about her life after the passing of her daughter, Grace. I read it after Katie died; it was a deep, beautifully written, stirring book. Who could have guessed that I might have the privilege of meeting its author a few years later, of looking her in the eyes and telling her, mother to mother, that I had been moved by her work?

Knitting Yarns is about so much more than knitting - its stories include family, life-changes, pets, community, gender roles and more. Gregg and I laughed until we cried, nodded in agreement, and listened with pleasure as each actor brought to life the voice of a character who had something vital to say about the craft of knitting. Do check it out, even if you are not a knitter.

Being a new member of the Field's End Core Team is already enriching my life and stimulating my imagination. Everyone has been welcoming, and I am excited about the possibilities ahead. If you live locally, check out the upcoming offerings at www.fieldsend.org!

My grandfather, Morton, in the library

Meeting Ann Hood is one of many serendipitous things that have happened since I started working through The Artist's Way (serendipity is one of the effects predicted by Julia Cameron, author of AW). I have been busy writing, listening, studying, observing, and reflecting. My (waking and sleeping) dream-life is richer than it was before - another of Julia Cameron's predictions for those who are practicing The Artist's Way. 

Nana Emilie in the library

Memories swim up to the surface from deep down in the depths of consciousness. Perhaps this is why, today, I remembered a small item which used to sit on my grandfather's desk in his library. He and my grandmother were avid readers and book collectors.

Morton's desk

It was a ceramic paperweight, very simple, made in the shape of an open book. Someone had written these words in rough black letters on the white-glazed pages:

Do more than look; observe.
Do more than read; absorb.

I wish I had thought to keep this paperweight after my grandparents' passing. I read the words dozens of times, and yet forgot all about it - until today. Wondering where the quote originated, I looked online, and Google revealed the source:

Do more than exist; live.
Do more than touch; feel.
Do more than look; observe.
Do more than read; absorb.
Do more than hear; listen.
Do more than listen; understand.
Do more than think; ponder.
Do more than talk; say something. - John H. Rhoades

Wise words, suggesting an intentional approach to living - to move beyond the superficial and go a step farther, deeper.

This led to a search for photos of the home where my mother grew up. The house is still standing, but the property has been subdivided, so the orchard is gone.

My grandmother designed this house in every detail (with an architect's help), including the recycled brick

The entry hall, with portrait of my great-great grandmother

The staircase my mother descended on her way to her wedding in the garden

My brother and me with Nana Emilie on the south side of  the garden.

Living room

More living room

I loved this house for its exquisite, understated beauty; it informed and shaped my taste in furnishings and interior design, and inspired me to study the subject. 

And yet more living room

I'm grateful to my grandparents for their love of books, beauty, education, culture and their appreciation of all of the arts, which they freely shared with us. I'm thankful to have happy memories of this house - including the recently rediscovered wisdom of John H. Rhoades.

Employment, etc.

This is Eagle Harbor on Bainbridge Island, WA, NOT New England - but it sure resembles the photos that David is sending!

David is working as a deckhand for American Cruise Lines, along the New England coast. This company operates small cruise ships in United States' waters, including rivers and coastal areas. He is learning and putting in a lot of hours, on the decks, at the helm (under the captain's and mate's supervision), driving the launch and standing gangway watch. I can't think of many jobs better suited to a young man just out of college (who has worked four summers on a local cruise line) than this one. We are happy and proud of him for taking on this adventurous job, as he continues to look for a permanent one in his field of study (criminal justice, with a minor in business).

Another reason that we are happy for David is the fact that his senior thesis has been published in the Journal of Law and Criminal Justice. It was interesting to me that his class was structured so that each thesis was written cooperatively (they worked in pairs). David and his writing partner functioned well as a team, and their professor thought so highly of the completed work that she suggested they submit it for publication. With a few suggested edits/additions from her, they did; it was accepted - and we just received the happy news. I hope that this will help a potential employer to see beyond the online resume and forms which are standard in the job market today.

It seems so difficult to communicate who you are, using electronic application forms! Back in the day, I enjoyed creating a resume and cover letter - selecting fonts and formatting, deciding which paper to use - and enjoyed the interview process, too. But nowadays, how do human resources decision-makers differentiate one from all of the others, when so much is done electronically? My heart goes out to young graduates - to all job-seekers - in this electronic age!

We've had a gorgeous, sunny summer, during which I've continued to study the Artist's Way. Every morning, I get up and write - longhand, per the instructions - and do the exercises, sitting outdoors, whenever possible.

I'm not the only one who likes to sit on the deck, but at least I don't sit on the picnic table - Liger does.

In addition to being filled with wisdom and challenging ideas, the book and its exercises are bringing up a lot of information from within me, including unrealized truths and dreams that I have not dared to voice. I would recommend the Artist's Way to anyone who is willing to devote time and honest attention to it, even if each chapter takes longer than just a week. Due to our vacation, taking care of my back and now a root canal procedure, I am going at my own pace, but the timing doesn't matter. The book is blessing me, and it is worth taking the time to do the work thoroughly rather than at an arbitrary pace. Thanks for reminding about it, Shelby!

I learned this week that Field's End Writers' Community would like me to offer WORD SOUP© again in 2015. I am thrilled, and already looking forward to it.

Speaking of Field's End, if you live in this area, please visit the website and consider attending one of the classes or events that are being offered! For example: an evening with bestselling author and editor Ann Hood as she presents "Knitting the Arts Together,”  leading a troupe of actors in reading excerpts from Knitting Yarns: Writers on Knitting. The event will take place on Saturday, October 18th from 7:00 to 9:00 PM, at the Bainbridge Island Museum of Art Auditorium, at 550 Winslow Way East (the corner of 305 & Winslow—walk up from the ferry).