Porch Blog

The storm has passed, and passed us by largely unscathed. I worry about my friends in Vermont who are pretty soggy and floaty right now. We took more precautions than were needed, but better over-prepared... This morning we returned the porch to the porch and I am now sitting in a pale blue rocker with my laptop and a ginger ale. I feel lucky to have the time and space to do this as so many are mopping up and checking the damage and their insurance policies.

So what is on my mind today? I am of course thinking about the trip out to the Isles of Shoals on the 8th. A poet friend, Eileen, is going along this time and I am happy for her to have that first Star Experience. It is a magical place. I am looking forward to the project I've set for myself (to finish The Boyfriend Project manuscript and to work on poems for the novel I am doing ... VERY SLOWLY doing) OK so you're scratching your heads now and thinking how come I need poems for a novel... did you THINK I'd write a novel without a poet in it??? Really, people?

One thing I learned today came from a person who teaches memoir... have you heard anything about an "immersion memoir" in any of your circles? I'd never heard of this at all until today. It is apparently where one immerses in another's landscape or adventure or life and revisits by way of memoir. I had a HUGE epiphany that this is exactly what my manuscript The Boyfriend Project is, an immersion memoir in verse! Now I need to revisit the manuscript with that idea in mind and see where it stands.

So today my porch project is to

1. decide on 3 narrative poems to send to Naugatuck River Review's contest and actually get them into the mail

2. decide on and print 10 copies of a poem to be workshopped at my poetry group tomorrow

3. send off my manuscript (Native Moons, Native Days) to Bowman Books

It's a little after noon... what are my chances? I want to go downtown to the coffee shop too... hmmmm. I REALLY want to go to the beach.... hmmmmmm.

But I have to give the porch its due and stay put. I can work from here and not have to find a parking place, a table, deal with tourists, etc. Sexy husband not distracting me right now... I'm on a roll.