Dear Mother,
I should’ve cleaned your fingernails before you died. I know dirty fingernails never bothered you, but in that last photo I took of you where your hands wrap around the ceramic mug of fresh coffee I brought with real cream, instead of the styrofoam cup of instant with powder packets you’d been getting—-in that picture the gleam is back in your eyes, feisty again, but a dark, dirty rim lines each fingernail. I regret not offering to clean your nails, but at the time it didn’t occur to me. You had lots of life left in you. You could’ve cleaned your own fingernails….
Tackling the Missing Scenes List
Have you noticed how accomplishing one task brings a high, and then a lull? You actually did something and now what? Take a break or launch yourself into the next task before losing momentum? If I’m not mindful, I find the transition between tasks is where I get distracted and lose my way. This week I tackled the List of Missing Scenes (from Book Finish Bootcamp https://www.resilientwriters.com/blog_page). Here’s how it went: I printed my list of missing scenes, along with some bits and pieces, some backstory and memories culled from my “sandbox”.* I plan to weave these elements into the already existing fabric of the story to strengthen the thematic through-line, which I keep close at hand. Then I jumped in, giving myself permission to just write, however incomplete the scenes might be. My little lizard brain editor sits on my shoulder shaking her head, saying things like, You’ve got…
When Writing is the Retreat
As a Mother’s Day gift a few years ago our middle son, Scott, asked if I’d like to take a writing weekend away with him. He’s a radio journalist in Seattle. Of course, I loved the idea, but somewhere between ideas and schedules, the details were difficult to work out, until now. We planned to go to Deer Harbor in the San Juan Islands, but first he’d come down here (near Portland) and speak to Arielle’s journalism class. He did this last year on his birthday and now it was the day after his sister’s 17th birthday. By the time I worked out the details, and thought of all the time and energy we’d spend traveling, I felt tired and a bit guilty– taking him away from his sister and father. Everyone always wants time with Scott. I felt like I should share… The solution: A DIY retreat at our…
Writer’s Flow Closing- Where Do We Go from here?
Torschlusspanik (German)- the anxious, claustrophobic feeling that opportunities and options are shutting down; you have missed the boat, you have to get a grip, you are getting too old. (Untranslatable Words -writer prompts) If you’ve been in Writer’s Flow Studio for any length of time, or even if you were a newcomer with high hopes, you may be feeling a bit of torschlusspanik as we move toward Sept. 30. Several of us have discussed where we’ll go from here. I’ve been in Writer’s Flow since the beginning, over 5 years ago. It’s been highly worthwhile. I confess I am just now, even this week, putting some of the principles of focused writing to work. But where do we go from here? I’ll continue to employ the lessons from this journey with Rhonda in my writing life ahead on my blog. I want to take a quick moment to encourage you,…
May is a Mother of a Month
17 years ago today, at age 47 1/2, I gave birth to my third daughter, our six child.Somewhere along the line we realized May 1 is my 1/2 birthday (and Nov. 1, is Arielle’s 1/2 birthday). This is a child who loves to celebrate, and a child we love celebrating. at the wedding reception for Marie & Jerome in Burgundy France, 2023 Today, after birthday dinner and opening gifts, including 9 sketchbooks because she loves to draw and ran out of sketchbooks last week, she reviewed her life in pictures on my phone. She commented on our many trips together- Iceland, England, Germany last year, France several times… so many good times together, but all too soon it will be time for her to leave home. 17 begins a countdown to adulthood, graduation and college, and/or possibly marriage. Her sister, our middle daughter, is getting married at the end of…
Would I lie to you? (Hana Oliver/ Unsplash)
The Jesus Chicken
When your kids say funny things, do you write it down? When they leave home you could hand them a book about themselves- a journal you wrote.
Another May Down
…there is something about writing a personally challenging piece (on motherhood, of course) that feels deeply refining, like fire.
Would I lie to you? (Hana Oliver/ Unsplash)
The Jesus Chicken
The other day our middle daughter came over to celebrate our youngest daughter’s 15th birthday. Arielle asked what we were having for her birthday dinner. Chicken Alfredo? I said, knowing it’s her favorite. Where is the chicken from? Arielle asked. She’s taking AP Environmental Science in her freshman year at Camas High School. We try to buy mostly free-range, usually organic chickens, but this class has raised the bar on what she finds acceptable. She’s nice about it, but she won’t eat it if she thinks it might not be responsibly sourced and humanely treated. Or if it contains palm oil. From the kitchen, her father called out some details–it was a heritage chicken, woodland bred, fed a diet of sheep’s milk, soy and hazelnuts, local and organic with at least 4 acres to graze upon with lots of friends… (Portlandia episode–ordering chicken) I added that it was a happy…
May (MaMoMeMo) is Here
Are you ready to write, even just 5-10 minutes exploring your story in May? If so, bookmark this site and subscribe to my newsletter… which I admit I’ve never actually sent out. I write my blog posts (here and more regularly on Ekphrastic Mama https://lorilyngreenstone.com/) but I don’t bother with emails. Some of you have asked me about this… I’m working up to it, is my best answer. I’m still figuring out the public side of writing. Mostly, writing is private, something I do when I’m alone, although I do write in groups https://www.pdxwriters.com/ and with partners, which I find drives my writing forward in surprising ways, but more about that later… I find memoir a bit unwieldy- it tends to run off in directions I didn’t think I was going. Sometimes I have to stop and ask, what is the story that wants to be written? However, during May…
More Bees, Less Words
Today a friend said she had two swarms of bees at her house and I could come get one if I wanted. But it was about 20 feet up in a tree. I like a challenge. The hub was reluctant, in the middle of a project… but he’s a game guy. This time our 13 year-old daughter came too, all three of us suited up in our bee suits. Bee girl It was a huge swarm. Actually, the two swarms merged into one. We went back and forth with ideas of how best to get it down, if it was even possible. The professionals from our bee club said it was too high; they’d just leave it. Huge swarm up high But we figured out a plan. The hub climbed up a ladder tethered to his truck, lassoed the branch with a rope and shook this huge swarm into a…