While I was away I gave a couple of talks/readings in Wasilla and Talkeetna, and hosted a writing workshop at the Talkeetna library. I am not really a teacher, and am a bit anxious when asked to guide other writers. At the same time, I figure if I can do this, anyone can. I believe the world needs as many stories from as many perspectives as possible, now more than ever. That helps. One exercise I like came from poet William Stafford and was passed on to me by his son, also a poet and writer, Kim Stafford. I wish I could say we know each other, and this was a personal connection, but we don’t. Or maybe that’s not true– I do know Kim and his father because of the writing they did and do– that’s the magic of literature, right?
Anyway, the Staffords did and do a “practice” of morning work, and it always begins with writing the date. Because that means you are showing up– it declares, “I am here! And I’m going to patch a few words together. Now.” So, I titled this blog October 10. I am here, and I will be blogging more and starting a new book. (With thanks to an actual writer-friend, Eowyn Ivy who encouraged my plan over coffee in Wasilla.) It is all very exciting (for me anyway). Everyone I met was generous and inspiring.
This is the season of hunkering down, and writing is a good way to spend the darker days of fall and winter. I’m even thinking of meeting the November novel challenge– have you heard of it? Where you use the month of November to write a draft of that novel you have inside of you? 2,000 words X 30 days = a 60,000 word book-length manuscript. (Then we can spend the next year fixing it up.)
I have some poems and one essay to finish too–
One thing I did want to tell you that I learned up north and that I should know- since I live in Devil’s Club country and am a fan of all things local– is that Devil’s Club is a terrific skin healer. I accidentally stuck my right index finger on the woodstove in the wall tent while we were moose hunting and got a nasty burn. (It’s my typing finger. I use two — left and right– so it is critical. They say that as we age we should learn new skills, so I know I should type properly, but this way works for me. As an old Haines politician used to say, “If it ain’t broke don’t fix it.”) A kind woman in Talkeetna saw my icky finger and suggested the locally made Devil’s Club balm. I had been dousing the wound with iodine and smearing it with anitbiotic ointment morning and evening.
I’m not a hypochondriac but I don’t want to catch a flesh eating bug. Or staph. As a child, I had more than my share of scrapes and cuts, especially on my knees and elbows from rollerskating on sidewalks, riding bikes, falling from trees, and playing street baseball. There were infections and there are scars still, and my grandmother warned me about the dangers from cuts. Thus the iodine. I still use it. I was more than a bit alarmed that the finger could go bad and I’d lose my arm. I know. I worry to much. My whole trip I chanted a little phrase my daughter Sarah told me to say ” What if it all works out?” — And it did! The Devil’s Club salve cured the burn. The finger is almost as good as new. And all the flights, ferries, driving, hotels and events, went great. Easy and fun. Here’s a little slide show:
In Anchorage on election day (Oct. 3) I chatted with our new Mayor elect Tom Morphet as I walked around Lake Hood by my fly-tel (It’s a floatplane friendly hotel by the airport) before the drive to Wasilla. (Kevin, Natalie and Craig won, too. How about that? I should buy a lottery ticket.)
In Wasilla, the motel was decorated for Halloween in a big way.
My Talkeetna cabin was perfect, and the weather was too.
I could see the planes take off and land from the deck. Right downtown. They don’t seem to have as many rules as Haines does.
The arts center and theater is a former hanger once owned by legendary Denali area pilots and guides, and while the inside has been remodeled, they kept the outside the same. I love it.
No, I didn’t take a flight. Maybe I should have, but…I like to keep my feet on the ground.
And you can see Denali from the end of the street, which dead ends at the river.
On the way home, I spent a few days in Juneau catching up with my daughters and grandchildren. It was wetter in Southeast but clouds make the glacier bluer.
It was oddly warm and there was a sudden violent wind and rain event that blew us around.
Molly and I did some yoga breathing and a legs-up-the wall pose after our adventure.
Henry and Emilia are not as into yoga. They are basically in constant motion except when they are sleeping.
Oh, these kids are good for my heart.
Turns out Devil’s Club ointment isn’t the only useful natural product around here. I loved the rosemary kids’ shampoo. When my daughter noticed the scent on me she said, “Oh…. Did you use the lice soap?”
“Wait, what?”
I can’t see well without my glasses.
My hair felt clean and soft, and as far as I know we are all bug free, so it must be working.
