Oh friend!! I’ve just started up my homeschool mfa plans again, after letting it go for a few years. We are done (done!) homeschooling our kids after 23 years of good work, and life is not what I anticipated but still so good. I am picking up my notebooks again and I look forward to going through your resources. You are such a generous wealth of goodness ❤️
23 YEARS OF GOOD WORK! I'm shouting it from the roof tops! Congratulations on this milestone. Popping all the corks on all the champagne bottles. Or you know, kombucha cans!
I love that about the geese. When our house flooded and we became refugees in the fall of 2021, we ended up in a house near the beach in Plymouth. I loved being able to walk to the beach every day. And on the way there we passed a small pond where the geese and ducks would often settle at sunset. It was so lovely to stand there in the fading evening and listen to them flying low overhead and splashing down into the water. That's a delightful image for the way poems come as unexpected gifts.
I posted about it a little on my old blog and I’d love to resurrect those posts and repost them here. We were really blessed that it happened in the fall. We were able to convince the insurance company to pay for VRBO instead of the cramped hotel rooms they initially wanted to put us in and because it was the off season we found some great seaside rentals that are probably empty for most of October and November and December. As traumatic as it was to have our house flooded and moldy, I will always treasure our fall at the beach. I took some amazing pictures and we found hermit crabs and bird skeletons and a dead seal and there was much beauty to nourish our souls. I’m still processing it all in my head, and feel like some day there might be some poems there, but not quite yet.
I can’t wait to dive into all of these titles. I plan to create a little retreat so I call sink into the words. Right now it feels like being there when the geese come is soooo important.
I love your Homeschool MFA series. I think there are some on this list that I haven’t read yet. Exciting! The chance to learn and grow through life as a homeschool mom is immense. Thanks for encouraging us to make the most of this time of life!
I think the opportunity to read aloud to my kids every day is a huge part of my growth. I have seen the advice to read aloud and pay attention to every word in creative writing books before, but I never did that until I had kids! My own writing is something that I am just picking up again, but I am excited!
Oh friend!! I’ve just started up my homeschool mfa plans again, after letting it go for a few years. We are done (done!) homeschooling our kids after 23 years of good work, and life is not what I anticipated but still so good. I am picking up my notebooks again and I look forward to going through your resources. You are such a generous wealth of goodness ❤️
23 YEARS OF GOOD WORK! I'm shouting it from the roof tops! Congratulations on this milestone. Popping all the corks on all the champagne bottles. Or you know, kombucha cans!
I love that about the geese. When our house flooded and we became refugees in the fall of 2021, we ended up in a house near the beach in Plymouth. I loved being able to walk to the beach every day. And on the way there we passed a small pond where the geese and ducks would often settle at sunset. It was so lovely to stand there in the fading evening and listen to them flying low overhead and splashing down into the water. That's a delightful image for the way poems come as unexpected gifts.
Wow, I don't think I know the flood saga! What a powerful image in the midst of such a trial.
I posted about it a little on my old blog and I’d love to resurrect those posts and repost them here. We were really blessed that it happened in the fall. We were able to convince the insurance company to pay for VRBO instead of the cramped hotel rooms they initially wanted to put us in and because it was the off season we found some great seaside rentals that are probably empty for most of October and November and December. As traumatic as it was to have our house flooded and moldy, I will always treasure our fall at the beach. I took some amazing pictures and we found hermit crabs and bird skeletons and a dead seal and there was much beauty to nourish our souls. I’m still processing it all in my head, and feel like some day there might be some poems there, but not quite yet.
I can’t wait to dive into all of these titles. I plan to create a little retreat so I call sink into the words. Right now it feels like being there when the geese come is soooo important.
Oh I wonder what kind of bird it would be on *your* peninsula? A shore bird? Maybe an egret? Or a line of pelicans? Crows heading to their roosts?
I love your Homeschool MFA series. I think there are some on this list that I haven’t read yet. Exciting! The chance to learn and grow through life as a homeschool mom is immense. Thanks for encouraging us to make the most of this time of life!
So glad to have you reading here, Katherine! I'd love to hear more about the ways that you are learning and growing. 💙
I think the opportunity to read aloud to my kids every day is a huge part of my growth. I have seen the advice to read aloud and pay attention to every word in creative writing books before, but I never did that until I had kids! My own writing is something that I am just picking up again, but I am excited!
Reading like a writer is something I'd like to get better at. I just started following along with this new series on reading closely: https://haleyalarsen.substack.com/p/becoming-a-closer-reader
What a resource, Kortney--you are so generous. xo
Thank you, dear one!