Last Day in Portland

What a week! The Tin House Writers Workshop and Portland, Oregon have both been great. My workshop is a group of twelve terrific people and I have loved reading their work and getting to know them all. Last night, my amazing student Sara had us over for dinner at her house. Her backyard is just beautiful, and we sat at a long table eating salmon in parchment, salad from her garden, quiche, and then salty caramel gelato with berries. My friend Heather has had me over to her beautiful backyard too, for salmon that her husband smoked himself, and then again for a smorgasbord of salumi and cheese and olives. I just posted some pretty pictures on Facebook, if you're so inclined.

So I have been well fed, and stimulated by the readings and lectures of so many terrific writers, like Aimee Bender, Steve Almond, Tony Doerr, Jonathan Dee, Dana Spiotta, Elissa Schappell, Dorothy Allison, and even more if you can believe it.

But, despite all the berries and salmon here, I'm ready to go home and see my darlings. It is a quick stop back in RI before I head to a conference in LA for a few days. Home long ago to do some laundry, have some good family time, and get to hear one of my favorite writers, Stewart O'Nan, read on Monday night. If you are in RI, please join us at the Marian J. Mohr Library, 1 Memorial Drive in beautiful Johnston, RI at 6PM.

And now...time to start packing up...

Smoked salmon, Stumptown coffee and tayeberries

Ah! Portland, city of great food, great coffee, great wine, great scenery, great people...If I had to move tomorrow I would pack up and come here, where all the things I live in life live so happily together. Ok, it's God awful hot. Near 90, and I couldn't get the AC in my room to work (thank you, Mr. Fix it Guy who came and saved me from melting!). Now it's downright cold in my little dorm room. I even added an extra blanket to my tiny twin bed last night. Thanks to my buddy Heather for taking me shopping on Sunday morning to stock up on all things Portland, plus a bouquet of bright orange zinnias to make my room pretty. And to Heather and her hubby for a morning spent on their roof deck sipping grapefruit mimosas and nibbling smoked salmon on cucumbers (he smoked it, inspiring me to fire up my smoker when I get home--he put marmalade on it and it was yummy!)

Last night the Tin House Writers Conference opened in its usual style--a cocktail party and then readings by Chris Beha, Karen Karbo and Wells Tower in the amphitheater. I am still operating on East Coast time, so crashed early. (And now up early, but this will change just in time for me to go back east).

Had a hard time on Saturday, watching my family disperse. Friday night when I went to bed I said: "I have been so happy having us all together, and now I'm getting so blue." Had a good cry at the Buffalo airport after watching Sam and Gogo walk down the jetway.

But settling in here, settling down, getting ready to start teaching. I have a good group of memoir writers in my class, and can't wait to start talking about all things writing. We have workshops every morning from 10-noon. Panels and craft talks and readings sprinkled throughout the rest of the day, into the evening. Busy but always inspiring and fun here...

Now, back to my delicious cup of Stumptown coffee. In my cooler (thanks, Heather!) I have 6 Stumptown cold brew iced coffees to get me through the days. A brilliant idea!

I hope you are staying cool this hot July!

Happy 4th of July

Every 4th of July morning for forty+ years, I woke up to the sounds of John Phillip Sousa playing at highest volume on the record player. I knew before I even emerged from my bed that I would find my father with a beer already in his hand, preparing the food for the dozens of people who would come to our house to celebrate his 4th of July birthday. No one loved his birthday more than my father, and 4th of July has never been the same since he died in 1997. How I miss that man! He was my soulmate, my cheerleader, my drinking buddy, my favorite storyteller, my guiding light. And so I woke up this morning, early, here in Chautauqua, to a deafening silence. I lay in bed, remembering all those 4th of Julys now past. The runaway Roman candle. The clambakes on the beach. The WWII veterans marching up our street with pots on their heads and broomsticks at their shoulders. And always John Phillip Sousa booming.

Last night, the Chautauqua Symphony played an incredible concert, and I felt as I watched it that it was tailor made to honor my dad. Lots of Sousa. Anchors Aweigh. God Bless America...

Wherever you are today, raise a beer to my dad.

Perfect summer day at Chautauqua

I am in our cozy apartment in Chautauqua, gazing out the window, across the sunlit balcony, to the lovely green trees beyond. Such joy to wake up this morning to the sounds of Sam and Gogo making coffee, and Annabelle grinning at me to show her latest lost tooth (last night!); to sit around drinking that coffee and hearing stories of Sam's NCT tour, Annabelle singing and dancing around us. Chautauqua is always like going back in time. Kids ride their bikes everywhere. Music plays in the distance. Newsboys and girls hawk newspapers on the town green. Tonight--a big spaghetti supper catered by Gogo. But first, I teach my class and then go to my bridge class with Sam and Gogo. Annabelle is at camp. And for these brief, too fleeting moments, everyone is together and happy.

I am wishing you a summer day like this today too.

Gin and Tonics at Ida Lewis Yacht Club

As many of you know, Newport is hosting the America's Cup match races this week, and I've been lucky enough to watch those beautiful boats out on the water. Reason to love Rhode Island: sailboats under a sunny blustery sky, dancing across the beautiful blue Bay. Spent yesterday at the Ida Lewis Yacht Club, sipping gin and tonics and nibbling shrimp, gazing out at that gorgeous view. Sigh...

A nice cap to a week of low key work, reading manuscripts for my upcoming teaching at Tin House in Portland, OR; xeroxing for that workshop and next week's in Chautauqua; working on short stories in various stages of completion; and resting and eating lots of steak and kale to battle the anemia (it's working! iron levels are up up up!)

Today is all about packing for those two weeks away teaching. Annabelle, Gogo and I shuffle off to Buffalo tomorrow and get us settled in at our apartments in Chautauqua. The rest of the crew arrives at various intervals on Sunday night. Gogo has made enough meatballs and sauce to feed us all week, I think. But I'm thinking of making a batch of gazpacho for lunches, maybe even packing up the slow cooker for some BBQ pork...

I just love our weeks there, which began ten years ago. That summer was a tough one, right on the heels of losing Grace. I remember having to cancel the Reading class she'd signed up for, and her swimming lessons. Remember too how hard I cried on this shot July nights, as little girls spun around on the grass, happy and alive. But that summer I met a man who changed my life. Dan Moseley gave the morning sermons that summer, and as serendipity or divine intervention would have it, his topic was grief. I sat every morning, grasping the wisdom he so freely gave, and finally managed to talk to him privately. Dan became a lifeline for me over the next few years, always there for my existential and grief crises. He taught me too, indirectly, how to help others. When I get emails from grieving parents, I  think of Dan and how he knew exactly what to say and do, and I take my lead from him.

We returned to Chautauqua every other year ever since, and have made lifelong friends there. I love the sight of one of my kids riding off on a bike, arriving wet from swimming in the lake, sitting beside me at concerts and dance performances. And so we are off again tomorrow for another week of old fashioned bliss.

Straight from there, I fly off to PDX again for a week at Tin House, another ritual I treasure. The writers, the students, the food and drink, the intellectual stimulation, the nearness of my buddies Heather and Hillary, Portland coffee and Oregon wine and marionberries...

So today is all about packing for these two weeks. And finishing my reading and Xeroxing.

For those of you who might be looking for a writers conference, I want to share the details of the FIU one in Coral Gables, Florida this October 25-27. Held at the historic Biltmore Hotel, the faculty includes Scott Spencer, John Dufresne, Ellen Sussman, Les Standiford, Steven Raichlen, Denise Duhamel, Julie Wade, Lynne Barrett, Debra Dean, and yours truly. Plus my own beloved editor Jill Bialosky and literary agent Richard Pine. If you enroll by August 1, tuition is ONLY $400! That is a deal! Hope to see some of you there!

Rain! And more rain!

Left rainy Portland, Oregon and arrived just in time for a week of rain here in Rhode Island. Funny thing is, I actually love the rain (which is one more reason why I think living in Portland would be just swell) so it is okay with me. Especially when my day consists of laundry and cleaning up (I've been gone ten days and somehow the laundry I did the day I left is still sitting in the laundry basket, waiting for me to come home and fold it) and signing Annabelle up for swimming (my other kids took to the water like, well, fish. But Annabelle still can't swim, despite years of lessons. Maybe this time?) and getting her to theater camp,preparing classes for my upcoming two teaching gigs,  and then meeting Gogo for dinner. Steak for me as I work on getting my iron levels up. All of these things are done well, maybe even done best, while it's raining. I like knitting when it rains. Reading. Doing a jigsaw puzzle (on my new jigsaw puzzle table! Thank you, Steve!). And I admit I have had some pretty romantic times while it rained. So all in all, I am happy to be home, happy to have it raining nice and hard, happy to wake up with a pigtailed Annabelle smiling down at me.

My Waves blanket is so beautiful that I ordered yarn to knit three more, one for each kiddo (Christmas presents?). And my bright striped dishcloths with kitchen cotton yarn from Lion Brand are so snazzy that I'm ordering up more of that yarn too. Here is the link: http://www.lionbrand.com/patterns/L10620.html?noImages=0
I think next time I am going to try the graphic dishcloths, using the same bright yarn.

Now I need to also share my new favorite writer, Gillian Flynn. I'm probably the last one on the block to read her, but I first read her new one, GONE GIRL and was so blown away by her use of point of view and her insights into marriage, all wrapped up in a mystery, that I immediately bought the one just before, DARK PLACES, and read it all the way from Philadelphia to Providence yesterday without looking up once until landing. She has another one too, which I'm sure to read next, even though I'm reading them backwards!

Other reasons that I am excited:
I am starting my research this week for Book Seven of THE TREASURE CHEST

I have almost all the fabulous essays for the knitting anthology I'm editing. What a line up of writers! You will all love it, I know. (Think Anita Shreve, Sue Grafton, Elizabeth Berg, Andre Dubus III, Jane Smiley--to name just a few of my wonderful contributors. I have read each one gobsmacked. I laugh. I cry. I shriek with joy!)

And in just a week, Sam will be joining us at Chautauqua. He is having quite a summer touring with the Missoula Children's Theater, and I have loved hearing his stories about his experiences. But boy am I glad he'll be with us that week...

Damages

I admit it. I am completely addicted to Damages, the show starring Glenn Close and Rose Byrne and an an ever changing cast of terrific actors (Ted Danson! William Hurt!) Thank you to everybody who checked in with me on my fainting the other night. It turns out I am anemic (!!!!) and have been ordered to eat steak and kale for starters, probably take iron pills and/or B12 when I see my doctor at home next week. Meanwhile, in between readings and classes and panels, I get in bed and OD on Damages...