WHAT HAPPENED?! I hadn’t intended to take a summer hiatus from Poetry Friday, and yet, here we are with a red tinge on the tips of our dogwood leaves.
My unplanned break began at the end of June with a rush to prepare for a trip to Highlights, where, incidentally, I got to meet a Poetry Friday friend – Linda Mitchell! Woot! Woot! Linda is as kind, thoughtful, and creative in person as she is in her posts. I also had a chance to chat with another Poetry Friday friend – Marcie Flinchum Atkins! If you haven’t met Marcie in person, she is generous, funny, and more organized than a spreadsheet!
The Highlights retreat: Poetry & Poetry Anthologies, led by the magnificent Irene Latham and incomparable Charles Waters, inspired me to revise a couple picture books. I owe them both many thanks for their continued support and guidance. I am pretty sure Irene is a saint. THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU!
Here is a subset of The Irene & Charles Fan Club at Highlights!
Then came summer parties and various obligations, followed by a trip to Maine to help my dear friend, Kim, with harvest on her wild blueberry farm (wild-farm sounds like an oxymoron, but it’s true). Kim taught me how to rake berries, winnow chaff on a tractor, and cull berries on a conveyor belt (a la “I Love Lucy”). I also learned that I am surprisingly (or perhaps not surprisingly) well-suited for manual labor! : ) If you are ever in Maine, please take a trip to Harmon Mountain Farm for some of the best blueberries you will ever taste!
From there we took a road trip through Canada. We enjoyed the entertaining Canadian road signs! We toured Prince Edward Island, Nova Scotia, Old Quebec City, and Montreal. If you have a chance to travel through Nova Scotia, please take a drive to Peggy’s Cove – a quaint fishing village and lighthouse seated atop ocean-sprayed granite. The town of Peggy’s Cove is home to only 30 year-round residents!
If you travel in Quebec, you might enjoy a hike to Montmorency Falls for spectacular views, followed by a drive to L’Ile de Orleans for golf-ball sized blackberries and ice cream at the local chocolatier. Swoon!
… and that’s what I did on my summer vacation!
“What about the POETRY in Poetry Friday?” you ask. Well, I was pleased to make the long-list in Renee LaTulippe’s “Summer Snapshot” poetry contest with the following free verse poem:
Congratulations to Poetry Friday bloggers Linda Mitchell for her honorable mention, Heidi Mordhorst for taking third place, and a shoutout to a member of one of my critique groups, Korena Di Roma Howley, for taking second! Woohoo! If you’d like to see their poems, click here.
So happy to be back at Poetry Friday! Thank you to the talented and funny Buffy Silverman for hosting this week! Check out her post (also relating to animal music!) and the roundup at Buffy Silverman.
Why is that summer just whooshes by?! My goodness it seems like we were just at Highlights and I'd go back in a heartbeat if I could. I had a whole post written up about Highlights and then didn't post it because it just doesn't do the place justice. What fun to go to a wild blueberry farm! I will definitely check that out the next time I'm in Maine. My husband flies there for a family reunion soon but I need to stay home and work. bleh. Your poem is so full of joyful sounds and joyful feelings. I just want to go out and dance with those fireflies. I look forward to seeing more and more and MORE poems from you.