We were able to resume holding my juried intensive poetry workshop this last week finally after a year’s plague hiatus.  Some of the poets who were supposed to come last year came this June, but several couldn’t.  Some were afraid to fly after Covid.  Some had lost their paychecks during the plague.  But we filled the workshop with a mixture of the previous year’s poets and new ones. 

The beach party was unintentionally exciting when one of the poets had a heart episode at the beach and has to be rushed to Cape Cod hospital by the Wellfleet Rescue Squad.  There they put in two stents and said that the incident had actually saved her life, as her heart was ready to ‘explode’. 

This was an older group than most years, many of them having already published chapbooks or books.  Also, more significant others came with the poets this year.  The party of 28 was almost a shock, considering we had our first party with much excitement of exactly seven people.

My chosen daughter Melenie came Thursday and we celebrated her birthday three weeks early because when she goes back to Easthampton, she and Jay will be moving from a condo to a new house very soon after her visit.  She has a lot of packing and cleaning, etc to do, before they can move.  It was great to see her again after so long.  We talk every week for half an hour some time every weekend and email back and forth almost every day, but finally seeing her face to face was so much better and more fulfilling.  During Covid, her hair has grown almost to her waist and is gorgeous.

We cooked together all Friday afternoon.  We were afraid we wouldn’t have enough food for so many people, so of course we overcooked and have a huge amount of leftovers.  No cooking tonight for us or for Melenie and Jay.  We were unable to find a space for a public reading this year for the first time.  But poets in the workshop bought many books anyhow.

The house is a mess.  All week I’ve been tossing my clothes when I undress into a corner.  My office is littered with my lectures and remaining handouts all over the desk and the floor.  I finally answered important emails this morning and erased about 400 messages. 

The gardens are overrun with weeds from a week of neglect and rabbits have moved into the main garden.  We have much indoor and outdoor work to do in the next few days. Mingus is howling his anger at how the last week went, including being shut up In the bedroom sing of the house with the door shut during the party, when people were going in and out. Schwartzie, normally a happy go lucky affectionate cat is so angry with us, he has moved into Willow’s condo in the wall of the storage room and won’t come down.  Covid was heaven for pets, so long as their people survived.