Tuesday, October 5, 2010

A Good Day in Retirement



I’ve had a hard time letting go of summer. Last night when I went out to the hot tub I felt the chill in the air and the stars shone brightly in the clear night sky. There was crispness in the air that isn’t there in the summer. Summer has gone.


I had put off getting my writing group back together. Summer is a time for travel, vacations and freedom. I wasn’t going to tie myself to commitments in the summer. But now, school is back in session, darkness falls earlier and earlier, and I’m wearing sweaters. I can’t deny it any longer; Summer has gone.

I sent emails out to the members of my small writing group and to bloggers I had “met” who live in the Hermiston area. We agreed to meet at a local used book store. This morning five of us got together to share our writing . Birgitta and Chris were in the group last spring. Chris had sent me emails during the summer asking when we were going to start meeting again. Birgitta read a short piece describing fall in Hermiston that she had written “to make my children homesick .” She’s been working on including humor in her writing and the group laughed out loud at several of her descriptions…auditory proof that she’d made growth

We met Milt and his wife Robin today for the first time. Milt is a blogger and a follower of my blog. This was my first experience meeting a virtual friend in person. Robin read a poem she had written and Milt read a piece that he had posted earlier in his blog. Milt’s writing was very self-revelatory and touching.

I read my recent piece about overcoming writer’s block and everyone laughed in all the right places.

We’ll be meeting the first and third Wednesday of every month at 10:30 at the used book store in Hermiston. Drop by if you’re in the area and bring your latest writing to read to us.

Today I had a great retirement day. The local coffee shop gave me a free beverage when I drove through…Cellular One picked up the tab today. I got to celebrate writing with people who, like me, struggle to find just the right word. I met face to face with a person I had met on the internet and he was not an ax murderer.

I guess I don’t feel so bad about summer being over. ..I’ve got writing group to look forward to. Life is good!

4 comments:

Linda Myers said...

My writing group is getting together tonight for the first time since June. We are working on a collaborative piece and will be readying it to submit to a publication. I am ready to sit with my friends at Third Place Books, talk about our summer adventures, and get back to work.

Isn't it great that you can do this during the day, since you're retired, instead of having to cram everything into the evenings?

#1Nana said...

Hey, Uncle Skip...all evidence has been removed, unless they bring in those CSI bloggers, Thanks for the heads up. I think I was writing on automatic pilot!

Robin Reynolds said...

Hi Jan,
This is the non-ax murderer's (subsequently known as NAM)wife. I really like your humor and the NAM laughed out loud. Was great to meet you and the others face-to-face. NAM has often encouraged me to write a blog but I am hesitant. I think I'll remain a reader for a while. I think yours is worth the read. Keep 'em coming. Robin

Murr Brewster said...

Congratulations on your retirement. And the only thing weirder than people not laughing in all the right places is when they laugh in the wrong place. I just had that happen to me and it threw me completely off. Maybe I'm just inadvertently funny, but that seems so unlikely.

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