This workshop had a wonderful group of poets.  They were responsive, did the exercises I gave them and expressed appreciation for all the work I put into it.  They expressed their gratitude verbally and also with gifts: chocolate, maple syrup, handsome pottery, a nice vase of flowers, and a gift card to Mac’s restaurant and/or fish market.  Few groups have understood how much work and effort I put into the workshop.  It takes me a day to go through the 15 poems submitted for their conferences.  I read, read, read and annotate each poem.  At the end of the conference I give them the 3 pages of notes.

The public reading went well and the party Friday evening was a success.  All the participants except one came, several with their significant others. Everybody seemed to have a good time.  I’d put in time the week before looking for new recipes, as we had fallen into a bit of a run after Covid prevented us from parties.  We served our homemade gravlax, good cheese and the ever popular black been salad.  Then Melenie and I made a chickpea tuna salad, avocado and orange salad, a lemon herbal pasta salad and cilantro shrimp. Melenie baked chocolate chip cookies. We got take-out chicken wings.  Tasha brought crusted shrimp and Dale made a yogurt cake.  They had at it.  I love good eaters.

Now we have to get the  house and our bodies back in shape.  The cats were really pissed off before the party.  I was gone a lot and when I was here, I was either having conferences or prepping for the next day.  They demanded attention  attention  attention. They demonstrated their anger by throwing objects and bottles on the floor and pulling off the tablecloths as we were setting up.  Shaman was the first to recover, as he is a rel party animal, and he couldn’t resist circulating and getting petted. 

My clothes from the whole week are piled in a corner .  The things we moved from the sun porch are finally as of now out of my office and back where they belong. Neither woody nor I have exercised all week.  It was lovely to sleep in this morning, as all week we’ve been getting up very early to get to the workshop on time. It rained lightly this morning; earlier in the week we had a genuine rainstorm that dropped an inch here – after a month and a half of drought.  The fire danger has subsided, at least for a while.

Woody did a lot of garden work, but I did none at all this week.  I’d love to get back to my own work and write, either a poem or two or in my ongoing book THE HOUR OF MY DEATH.  This has not been a very productive month for my own writing, but now I should get on it.  I also owe the cats a lot of attention.  Schwartzie wouldn’t purr for me but insisted on being petted for a full half hour this late morning.  Late because we got up late. Suddenly, my time is my own, even though right now I’m swamped with what I haven’t yet gotten back to.