Chicken Soup for the Soul....Just Us Girls

Out in November, Chicken Soup for the Soul, Just Us Girls with my story, My Ohio Friends.  I sent this piece in almost two years ago.  It never hurts to put your writing out and then move on.  Sometimes you get a wonderful surprise.

Whatever the other shore is....Get There!

It's time...no it's past time...to bring this blog up to date.  It's shame on me for letting it slip since having this blog was my idea.  I kneel in repentance but am on my feet again to go forward with making this blog a place where our Writer's Group can express themselves though writing.

Let's make this a spot to explore our stories....use it as a way to find different means of creative expression...whether it's turning a piece of memoir into fiction...using the blog to try out a story...any story..maybe.only in dialogue....or perhaps in verse...or any way in which our writing might be different than what we've been used to.  Let's get creative.

I've been inspired by so much of what I've read this summer....essays, written in unusual and engaging ways.... and fiction which has taken me to places I've never considered going....and I've been inspired these past few days by the endurance swimmer, Diana Nyad who at 64 swam 110 miles from Havana to Key West.  Her fifth attempt...she didn't give up and I'll use her quote....

"Whatever the other shore is....Get There!"

Spring's Kind Words

The writing class I taught, which began in the dark of the winter winds, has concluded in the twilight of the much welcomed spring. Three women, all with their own agendas, their own goals, came together and thoughtfully, and with extreme humor, lifted each other to a place, which I believe, never occurred to them they would go. At least not in the beginning.

The individuality which expresses itself in writing is a constant amazement to me. Thank goodness it always surprises me how the right words, the collective thought, conveys a new way of looking at a situation or an idea, which may appear, at first, mundane or irrelevant. For me, this provides hope. It’s a reminder each new day may start off with a pearly haze over the sun, but in the same way the jet stream alters the atmosphere, by evening, events not possibly imaged, have transformed lives and directions. This happens every day...all over the world. 

Good writing takes you on the same trip. Reading the first words, ready to be sent off to one place and then, quite startlingly, when reaching the end of a piece, you discover you’ve arrived on a beach you never knew existed. Someone’s thoughtful introspect of words well chosen has the same effect. Said with kindness, it only takes a minute, a few seconds, to impart a positive change. Whether written or spoken.  I saw it take place on the last night of our class and it made me want to come back for more. 

Pho and Bun…Try it, Just for Fun

On Saturday the line will be out the door, and while Vietnamese food is relatively uncommon when dining out, this diminutive restaurant boasts fresh, humble ingredients. What happens when those ingredients are united, is what makes this place truly notable.

Spring rolls, hot and sour soup, and fried rice diminutively pepper the menu. Are they serving Chinese food or Vietnamese you may ask?

Vietnamese food certainly has influences from other countries such as China and Thailand, but it’s the fine subtleties to each of those dishes; fresh mint, lemon grass, Vietnamese sausage which makes these more common foods, unique. Names such as pho and bun dominate the menu…but you’ll just have to go there to find out what they are, as any description here would be an injustice.

I hesitate to give the name and location as I would prefer the lines stay short, but it would be unfair for me to keep this sparkling gem to myself.

Pho Vietnam Restaurant

56 Padanaram Road

Danbury, Ct

Open 7 days a week

Sunday to Thursday 11-9

Friday and Saturday 11-10.

Fractions

Today I had to help a 2nd grader with fractions. Retrieving buried information from my early elementary years proved comical. The little girl, Annie, who waited patiently as I drew a picture of a circle to illustrate a pie, Then the hard part came in explaining how all little parts of the pie make up a whole.
    After I finished with homework help at the library, I thought of my mother. Today is the anniversary of her death. I couldn't help feeling her presence as I struggled to make sure Annie knew the correct answer.  Or a celestial chuckle when I had to get her attention. Math has always been a struggle for me. My lack of homework skills never made it easier. The nights with my mother trying to explain mathematical concepts appeared while I googled an example for my young student.
       Now I'm sitting with a glass of red wine wondering if I should take a class to brush up on my math skils.
My mother's happy to see me writing and at least wanting to get the right answers in life.

FEVER

This year will be different. Yes, this year I will have a plan of what to plant and only buy things I need for my garden. There may be lots of great plants at the nursery, but I don’t have to have all of them.

Then spring arrives. Like the intrepid daffodils emerging from their frozen slumber, “Open for the Season” signs reappear. Despite every intention of driving by, my steering wheel reverts to auto-pilot and I find myself in a garden center parking lot.

Sound familiar? The rationalizations follow. “I might as well take a look. No harm in finding out what’s new this year.”

Like a yo-yo dieter, waging an all out mental war, I stand before the bounty of tempting choices. My resolve falters. My mouth fights a tidal wave of saliva. I’m forced to swallow to prevent a trickle of drool from escaping towards my chin. My knees weaken, my stomach does somersaults, and I forget to breathe. I’m a nervous teenager again, about to receive my first kiss.

The arrays of bold colors; the rippling leaves; those nodding, winking faces—it’s all too much. Plants flaunt themselves shamelessly before me, vying for attention the way hawkers do in booths at the state fair. My pulse racing now, I pick up a tray of annuals. Fighting the urge to fling my arms open wide and caper with abandon through the aisles like a mischievous puppy, I inhale slowly.

“Calm down, for heaven’s sake. Remember, this year is supposed to be different. Taking measured steps, I wend my way through this horticultural heaven, playing my part in the plant world’s equivalent of a pas-de-deux.

In ten minutes flat my cart is laden with a mix of tried-and-true favorites and this year’s darling—Pretty Much Picasso petunias. Heading for the check-out, a litany of excuses starts. And being an unrepentant gardener, there are ample reasons for my excess. “It’s just a few plants. Some people spend more at Starbuck’s each day. Everyone has at least one vice. How harmful are a few plants?” This is quickly followed by, “I need something for the bare spots where my Alchemilla mollis disappeared.” My new excuse this year is, “oh, we have to support our local growers—you know, the locavore movement. Forget the fact the movement is supposed to be about eating locally-grown plants; it’s not about growing locally-purchased plants, or is it?

In my best actor’s voice, I practice my lines all the way home. My husband will be my audience and he’ll prompt me with the classic, “Where are you going to put all those things? Does this mean I have to dig another garden this spring?”

“Oh no,” I assure him, “I’m going to tuck these in among the plants we already have. Everything will blend together and crowd out the weeds. We’ll be able to enjoy the display and won’t have to do any work.” I plaster a big smile on my face, as if I’m thinking of his best interests.

He buys this argument, no doubt relieved backbreaking digging of water-logged soil isn’t in his immediate future.

I’m relieved too. My plant fever has abated, for now. I’ll be taking a longer way to work though. There are only so many rounds of fever I can withstand and driving by the garden center daily is no antidote for my condition.

Coming Soon: A Vacation in Ireland

On July 22, 2011 my family and I will embark on a new journey. A result of submitting a travel essay to FamilyVacationCritic.com, I won a trip to the Adare Manor in Ireland. (Pictured on the left). Anyone interested can read my essay in this link; FamilyVacationCritic.com.
Our itinerary is packed. The Blarney Stone, Ring of Kerry, Cliffs of Moher, and an Irish Medieval Banquet will fill the days when we are not strolling the emerald grounds of this expansive estate. The cool weather and icy waters will not allow me to bask in the sun and wiggle my toes in the sand as my prior adventures, but will instead allow me to explore the culture and history of a land I have never been.

Here's the link to our castle.....

https://www.adaremanor.com