Back from the Skagit River Poetry Festival and soo sooo tired. We left the house 9 AM Friday morning to catch a ferry to go over to La Connor, WA (arriving just past 1 PM) and just got back now at 8 PM Saturday night. In between that time, I caught a couple of panels (Poetry and the Spirit, Women’s Voices, etc) and some great readings (Pattiann Rogers, Rachel Rose, David Wagoner among them) and saw lots of my NW friends, and other old friends who’ve moved farther afield, if only briefly.
Got to go out to dinner Friday night with Pattiann, who was my thesis semester advisor at Pacific, and talk about her new book, Wayfare, as well as my plans (who knows?) and how/when I’m going to publish my second book (who knows?) Oh, my life is up the air. Where to live? What to do? Anyway, she was very supportive and funny as always. Her accent always reminds me a lot of my multitudes of Missouri relatives. She took me out to ice cream today and I knocked Carolyn Kizer’s daughter off the sidewalk in my enthusiasm. Oh, my childish ways!
The weather went from a bleak six months of temps hovering at the top at 50 and rain to a sudden 86 degrees this weekend, and boy did that sun come back with a vengeance. Some kind of bipolar weather. I think my lips got sunburned, just walking around. Saw tons of bald eagles, heron, even some wild turkey (the bird, not the drink.) Right before we left Friday morning, we saw a mother deer and her baby on the beach, walking in the water in an attempt, I assume, to cool off.
So good times but such a flurry of poetry activities, long driving times and many restaurants/events without air conditioning that I am exhausted. Off to shower and sleep!