Hanging Out with Poet Friends, Signs that Spring Is On The Way

Spring Flower Display Garden

Signs that Spring is On the Way!

After a seemingly endless gloomy, wet winter, there are signs everywhere that spring is on the way. Despite the thunderstorm this morning, we’ve actually had some sunny days this last week, and then…surprise – a few blooming branches have been spotted here and there, and the display garden at my local gardening store is inspiring garden designs. (Planted a Daphne and a Viburnum today.)

It can’t help but lift the mood of my city, as a collective, despite gloom and doom in the news (Russians hacking the elections! The Coronavirus! Etc!) people are smiling more, chatting more, nodding to each other in the street. I’m definitely a spring girl – I was born in the spring, National Poetry Month is in the spring, plus flower flowers flowers! I’ll share a few images I snapped this week. Plus, I saw an eagle flying overhead every day this week. And our bobcat visited again! (Video link at end of post.)

Kelli Adogon and I at her party

Spending Time with Poet Friends

Carved out some time (and energy – been a little under the weather) to attend a poetry potluck celebrating my friend Kelli Russell Agodon’s book contract with Copper Canyon Press, and it was great! I got to catch up with some friends I don’t see very often who I’ve known for fifteen, sixteen years now and meet others I’ve only “seen” on Facebook. Some of my old friends had little kids when I met the who are now in college or grown-up with jobs. We talked about where our lives had taken us. Some talked about not submitting or writing for a while. Some talked about new books and planning readings.  It always helps give me perspective on the writing life and all of our journeys when I hang out with other writers. It also gave me motivation – I came home and submitted a piece of fiction (which I rarely do) and sent out some poems as well. There is just something about being with other writers that inspires me to action.

I even got to take a picture of some of the poet husbands I’ve known for just as long – and Glenn fit right in (except he was sad he didn’t have a hat! And I couldn’t get a picture where he had his eyes open)!

I was reminded that the writing life is a journey. There are ups and downs and detours, time to write and time to rest. We don’t all go at the same pace. Life gets in the way sometimes. A supportive spouse can make a lot of difference (and I feel lucky to have mine – plus everyone raved about his gluten-free mini pumpkin pear cupcakes)! And encouraging each other is part of the job. It can feel awfully lonely when those rejection slips roll in, or when your grant application is denied, or that job doesn’t come through. It’s good to have the company of people who have been there, done that.

And as promised, a link to the bobcat video on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/p/B8ywucGBVQ4/