Well, for last week I found out that I have been accepted to participate in the next issue of TheLight Ekphrastic. That will be coming up in August, I believe. I submitted 5 poems and received 3 art pieces back in return. I am to write a poem based on one of those. Then the artist creates a piece based on one of my 5 submitted poems. Both poems and both art pieces then appear in the online issue.  It is a challenge, but it is a good way to stretch myself as a writer.

This week I took my new camera with its 24x zoom out into the countryside for a test drive. I am not a photographer by any means, but I would like to start taking my own pix for use on the blog and perhaps in my chapbooks. A 3x zoom was not going to do it for me. I can see that I have added another challenge to my weeks to come, learning how to use this beast.  So far, I can figure out how to take closeups of flowers. That doesn’t sound like I have progressed very far, does it?  Interesting that the next time I took the old camera out it had completely died. I am taking that as an affirmation of my decision to make this purchase. It is no longer an indulgence, so I can feel good about it! (AND, I did go back and get a refund when I found a competing ad with a better price. So that was another challenge met, since I tend to let those things slide…)

Of course, looming over my shoulder is the other challenge: submissions.  Not much done there yet. But it is still high on the list!  C.

Well, this week I started to get back to my life beyond writing retreats, long my focus as I prepared for that. Happy to say that my back fence is once again straight and strong, thanks to my brother Norm. But along with that, I have been tidying up the garden, tossed away a lot of broken things that seemed to have some kind of sentimental value for a long time, but are too rusty or shabby or just plain broken to keep any longer. This is a small breakthrough in its own way.  And some of the plants are now thinned out as well.  New flower baskets have added colour.  This is all in preparation for putting my house on the market come fall. Need to move to a smaller house, or one with fewer than three floors. This is my next BIG life challenge, but taking slow steps for that.

I am also happy to say that I am thinking about where I might go on my next trip. And when. And whether it will be alone or not. Baby steps there too. Next week the challenge is to write a presentation on the poet, Yosef Komunyakaa, who is nominated for the International Griffin award. Three volumes of poems to read first to select which of his pieces I am going to include. Update on that next Sunday!  Thanks for listening.

Carol

So, I am back from Lenox, Massachusetts, alive and in one piece!  I was so busy getting ready last week that I had no chance to post about THAT week’s success.

My poem, Walking in Thomson’s Red Sumac, took third prize in the Canadian Authors Association National Capital Writing Contest.  That was a great boost to my confidence as a writer.

As for the trip that I feared and dreaded all winter (although I was looking forward to the workshop itself) went without incident. Unless you count the near-encounter 5 minutes into my trip, with a wayward hockey net that took flight from the bed of a pickup truck, coming to rest on the road right in front of me!  Sort of proves the point that most accidents happen close to home.  Anyway, I met with a couple from Oshawa in Utica NY, and we convoyed the rest of the way to Lenox. On my return, I did the trip in one shot, alone, in about 7 hours. All three driving days were sunny and warm, so even the weather cooperated.

Once I am more connected to day-to-day and less to the cocoon of a workshop retreat, I will post about the workshop itself.

Thanks for reading!

Carol