In Poets & Writers March/April 2014 I read a good essay in the “Where We Write” section and it led to this reflection on where I write. As someone who has moved around a lot, I don’t have the regional attachment that essayist Mary Stewart Atwell has to her Virginia origins. So where do I…

Often when I drive I25 through Denver, I feel a sort of global despair. Bumper to bumper across four, six, sometimes eight lanes. And this is one city in the world. The realization springs to the forefront of my silly mind that there are just too many of us. Sure, I fear the environmental impact…

    I feel a bit like Garrison Keillor–it’s been a busy week in Lake We’ll-Be-Gone. We often hear how lonely the writing life can be. Well, it can be just the opposite, like carving ice to find the writing hours. Just look at my week:   Sunday–CIPA Focus Forum with Mary Walewski on social…

Recently my friend Carolyn Jennings posed a question to a writing group: What would be in a letter reviewing the upcoming year? Yes, throw your mind to the end of 2014 and see what bounces back. My letter came in the voice of my inner critic, whom I have named Hubert Mumbles. Hubert was the…

A nerd goes to the dictionary to find the definition of nerd. Finds that word nerd comes from Dr. Seuss (If I Ran the Zoo) and must, then, be a rare and wonderful thing. A nerd, instead of watching football, even this Sunday, would rather read a book about the history of punctuation, a book…