Greetings from Oregon!
Phil's niece's wedding was a delightful occasion. I'm so glad that we got to meet her new husband more informally the night before, and to verify that he is a lovely man who is crazy about her--we think she is wonderful.
I'm happy to be able to report that I've actually been writing during this trip! I've lamented on here many times before that traveling knocks me off my rhythm and then it takes time to find it again. This time, though, fresh from the Writers' Conference, while we were on the plane I applied several revision techniques we'd discussed to a poem I hadn't worked on for some time, and invented a couple more techniques myself. Since then, I've made all sorts of notes that can blossom into something more continuous with a little more time.
We've been putting plants out--a late, wet spring here in Oregon, and so a slow start. Lovely to have my hands in the soil, to be tucking plants into beds. Good visiting, good work, good time for reflection.
Eating mostly fruit, as I have been, has made being here so much more convenient. It's also a pleasant kind of 'sticker shock'--everything, especially produce, is much cheaper than in AK. I'm happy to find watermelon with seeds in it here. There have been some unscheduled treats too, though. Part of the wedding spread was a gorgeous array of fruit. There were trays and trays of cookies in lieu of a cake, including several trays of gluten free cookies! (Phil's niece's new mother in law is gluten free too.) Cautious as I usually am about eating something I haven't read the ingredients on, especially at the 'high reward' end of things, Phil's niece is such a sublime exponent of the cookie that I felt good about indulging in cookies at her wedding.
Phil's brother and sister-in-law and their gorgeous seven-year-old son (pictured with a snake we found on the farm and greatly enjoyed) are headed back East today.
