Friendship depends on place. Our memories are interwoven into particular places in a metaphorical sense, but we also choose real physical places to meet, to renew our commitment to each other.

I love travel writing. Life is short and our planet is large. There are many places that I know I won’t have the time, money, or ability to visit.

Litha represents fullness, vitality, light, and abundance — life at its most generous. It carries a doubled meaning: celebration and impermanence held together. Gratitude for the height of light, and the quiet awareness that nothing stays at its summit.

What do we do when we look at landscapes? If an image, do we place ourselves into the photo somehow? Does the title of the image affect our interpretation? If in real life, are we aware of the temperature, the light, the time of day? Do we remember a time when we have been to that same place?

Internationally acclaimed author, Ruta Sepetys, has written seven novels plus You: The Story, a non-fiction guide to creating memoirs. Her bestselling 2011 book, Between Shades of Gray, was adapted for film in 2018 and transformed into a graphic novel with Andrew Donkin in 2021.

Her latest novel, A Fortune of Sand, is another powerful piece of historical fiction set in Prohibition-era Detroit. 

As writers, we are readers, too. There are many different libraries in the Southcoast area. If you want to grow your skill as a writer you may want to become a regular at one of these libraries or one close to home. You can borrow books about the craft of writing or subjects that interest you. By learning what’s already been published, you can be a life-long learner who keeps current with ongoing trends in your favorite genre.

Writing has its own collection of distinct clubs. Genres! When two people meet and begin to discuss what they enjoy reading or what kind of words they prefer to write, it’s usually categorized into genres. Contemporary Fiction gets a familiar nod. Oh you write Poetry, how lovely! But what’s your real job? Historical Fiction is my favorite, too!

Within a broader context of art and the urban landscape, ecocritical art shifts an artwork’s function from that of a contemplative finished product to a process-oriented community engagement with the natural world. With Vestibules, Katy Rodden Walker and I have sought to remediate environmental problems (or intervene before they occur) through an active collaboration with nature, artists and community. When Vestibules is completed, residents will have access to natural resources, shaded areas, a communal gathering space, a living art installation, and educational materials for generations to come.

Books are great teachers of craft. They lure us in, teasing us with insight about our favorite writers’ craft. But don’t let them distract you from the real work. The only way to learn to write is to write.

I study her closely to imagine what she is learning. I am developing an imaginary scientific method for canine sniffing data gathering, collection, and analysis of living things. I see it as multi-dimensional with infinite points and vertices constantly reacting and changing. Sniffing is a sentient activity. It reveals an enormous amount of data - all around us all at once.

With many years of doggy love etched into my being, I realized that God created this intense, short-lived life of pure, unreserved love to teach us humans a valuable lesson. The magnificent brilliance of love in action leaves open the question of who trains who.

We love to read about food, even when it’s not the main subject of a book. Food is emotionally tied to love, grief, and sensory escapism. Do you like reading mysteries? Think about some of the most famous escapades that have used food as a murder weapon!

When an ignorant president repeatedly starts or threatens war, based on might and lies, when an unpopular president muses about cancelling the midterm elections, and demonstrates again his intent to meddle in them, that is where we are. As to why he is unpopular, I present my political poem.

And then that night, it began snowing, and snowing, and snowing, and SNOWING.  The wind sounded like a train roaring through, as though the gods were sending a message.

Snow blew thickly, horizontally across the landscape, truly adding depth to the idea of “white out.” With 497,000 people without power, businesses and schools closed for several days, it was not your average snow storm.

“I started thinking about water in our lives, even if it’s not specifically a natural landscape feature. Rain, mist, dew…all of these forms of water that are transitory. They are still a part of our natural world, but we can't point to them because they come and go in our lives. My question to you today, especially thinking about how our bodies are made of water, is how does our bodily presence interact with these transitory forms of water?”

How did mermaid myths emerge? Sailors squinting towards the horizon have long reported a variety of unidentifiable sea creatures, many of whom they’ve dubbed mermaids.

I found a recent article by Ted Hayes in the Westport Shorelines online edition about Melinda Green swimming in Sakonnet Harbor among the ice flows!  “Amazing!” I thought to myself, so I googled Mermazons and I found a previous article by Ted about the Mermazons. To my surprise, there was a picture of Midori Evans with her fellow Mermazons. The group formed as a result of the pandemic and they try to swim as often as possible.  So here is my tribute poem to Midori and her fellow Mermazons!

I find the links between poetry and smithcraft deeply inspiring. Brigid not only tends the fires of inspiration for our poems, but she keeps a forge where physical weapons can be created and strengthened. We’ve heard the old adage “The pen is mightier than the sword.”

Maps inspire writing, and vice versa. Many writers create an outline before they jump into writing a story. An outline is a written or mental map of where the story might take its readers. Historical maps can be viewed as an outline of where real stories took place in our community.