Sizzling Summer Sights & Sounds
Dear Ones,
How are you in these long summer days? Do you feel as if you've emerged from hibernation? I do. In June I hosted my dear friend Tarah for almost a week, our annual "soul sister" visit resuming after 2020's COVID hiatus. I've been to Westport winery (photo above taken in their gardens) and a motel, eaten inside three restaurants, had a story titled "A Pregnant Pause" published in Hags on Fire, a new journal featuring writing by menopausal women, took in the Monet at Etretat exhibit at the Seattle Art Museum, celebrated another revolution around the sun with a dozen wonderful women in a virtual writing party, and preached a hopeful message on the beheading of John the Baptist.
My husband Kevin and I spent three days indoors hibernating from record-breaking heat last month (108 degrees), thankful to be among the third of folks in the region who have air conditioning. The stench from the rotting seaweed, dead fish and oysters on our beach was terrible. Sadly, an estimated 1 billion small sea creatures died from the heat.
Kevin built an outdoor bar for al fresco dining on our former front porch, and it's become my new plein air office. With my computer, tea, and an unfiltered view of Hood Canal and the Olympics, it's truly paradise.I hope this summer is bringing you new freedom, fun, moments of wonder, and for my friends in the West, little direct impact from the challenges of fire weather.
~Cathy
Echology Poetry Walk
July - November Gig Harbor, WA
I'm thrilled to be one of 9 regional poets in the Echology Project, including Washington State's Poet Laureate, with a poem planted at Donkey Creek Park this summer and fall highlighting the lives and role of salmon. If you're local, take an easy stroll through the park, or join us for a poetry reading at the Chum Festival in November. Organizer Jennifer Chushcoff has a beautiful website and a page for the Echology Project with more info about chum salmon and the participating poets. Here's my contribution:
Miracle at Donkey Creek
After years at sea
pulled by nothing more
than sense and scent
gravity and memory
silvery salmon swim
through the Salish
home to natal tributaries
where females scrape
out redds in shallow gravel
and flaming red males fertilize
eggs with milky milt
until finally spawned and spent
they float like fallen leaves
swirling in eddies before us—
humans who can’t navigate
even city grids without apps
who haven’t yet learned to give
our lives for a future unseen
National Book Lovers' Day
Virtual Writing Workshop
Monday August 9th 10 a.m. to Noon PDT
You're invited to join me for a virtual writing workshop (Google Meet platform) in celebration of National Book Lovers' Day. We'll read passages from our favorite books, write together, and have the opportunity to share our new writing with one another without critique. Advance registration is required and there is no cost to participate. email me to signup or for more info.
RECOMMENDED LISTENING
LEARNING LIGHTROOM BEFORE & AFTER
Another summer activity I didn't mention earlier: Learning Adobe's Lightroom photo editing software. I'm having fun exploring the capabilities of the program that go beyond Apple photos. Here's one of my favorite before and afters from Barbara Earl Thomas' paper cut exhibit at the Seattle Art Museum. After looks much more like it did in person than the yellow tones of the original, and I was able to highlight my dear friend Becky. What new things are you learning?