Adventures beyond time

Adventures beyond time

Sunday, March 21, 2010

We are just back from the Gathering of the American Pilgrims on the Camino. I thought we'd done really well last summer with our 200-mile Camino hike. It was a "Doing at 65 what we would not have dreamed of doing at 45" experience. But new challenges presented themselves at the Gathering when we met Cedric. He walked 500 miles last summer to celebrate his 80th birthday!

Sunday, March 14, 2010

Bunnies

Easter is coming and I have our damn bunnies on display. 

 

In about 1972 I was sitting on the front steps at Corey Creek Apts with my 4- and 1-year olds, and Anne, who lived upstairs from us, came home from kindergarten. "Hi Anne, what did you do in school today?" said I. 

 

"Worked on those damn bunnies, again!" said Anne. 

 

Ever since, any project that keeps bouncing back for more work regardless of how hard you try to finish it has been a damn bunny to me. The folks I have worked with will tell you it was our code for things like a foundation proposal that seemed perfect, but got returned for one more re-write. 

 

Thanks to Anne for a lifetime of smiles. 

 

I'll bet other parents of former Mansfield Pa kindergartners also have damn bunnies on display! In the photos, you will note that Pam had the same teacher as Anne and their bunnies were "just right." Meg, however, had the other kindergarten teacher and her bunny has a distinctly more individualistic character.


 

Monday, March 8, 2010

On the Board!

Saturday was the Annual Meeting of the Friends of the Lower Suwannee River and Cedar Keys National Wildlife Refuges. Russ and I both got elected to the Board of Directors. We are looking forward to two years of advocacy for taxpayer interests, birding, kayaking, hiking, and fun with a really great group of Board friends.

 

Tuesday, March 2, 2010

A Presentation about Lighthall Books

We are just back from visiting our friends Jean and Stan who live in Solivita near Kissimmee, Florida. While we were there, Russ did a presentation about writing and publishing for a community book club. The members had read his most recent novel, Oswegatchie Green, in which Fish and Wildlife Service scientists get caught up in a murder investigation and a wind farm proposal while trying to forestall environmental devastation. Russ's presentation led to discussions of four main topics:
  • The book's plots and subplots---community tensions in an economically hard hit town where people are torn by simultaneous desires for good jobs and wilderness tranquility, viability of a wind power business in a region such as New York's Adirondack Mountains where the story takes place, the roles of science and scientists in public policy, and whether the scientist-protagonists will ever sort out their relationship with each other. 
  • Being an author---story genesis, genres, plot and character development, writing and rewriting, voice and tone
  • Getting published---fiscal and logistical issues related to commercial publishing and self publishing.
  • The next offering from Lighthall Books---The Summer of a Thousand Cheeses a non-fiction book coming this month about exploring the phenomenal changes in the world of cheese starting with the cheddars of our childhoods and leading to our the summer we discovered a thousand types of American-made, artisanal and farmstead cheeses.