Reflections on the Teche

I’m home. Albert is snuggling on my lap, and I am deeply satisfied from the first ever Inklings writing retreat.

Back in 2014, the Two Writing Teachers team worked to organize writing groups among the Slicers. The one I was placed into never got off the ground, but at NCTE, Melanie Meehan invited me to join her group. The only two members from the original group are me and Catherine Flynn. Catherine and I were most interested in writing poetry, so we sought out poets from the blogging world who shared our passion. Eventually we landed on a stable core of 6 poets, Linda Mitchell, Heidi Mordhorst, Mary Lee Hahn, Molly Hogan, Catherine and me.

As the years went on, we met twice monthly on Zoom (or whatever was working) and saw each other at NCTE or on vacation; however, we’ve never been all together in one place. We talked about it for years. This year we began planning in January when Heidi announced she was moving to London. She offered to host us all at her writing studio, WhisperShout, in Maryland.

I’m still amazed at the logistical miracle. Accommodations from Heidi’s neighbors, food, field trips, flights (I was the only one who flew), desserts, and a colorful spreadsheet.

We took a field trip on Friday to Planet Word. If you are ever in D.C., you must go!

On Saturday, we joined Laura Shovan’s writing retreat in Clarksville, Maryland. I had a comfortable writing spot on her back patio.

On Sunday, we walked to a neighborhood farm.

And in between meals and field trips, we gathered in the studio and wrote together. When you meet a group of people virtually, you never really know how face to face with each other will be. Maybe because we’ve waited for this for so long. Maybe because we are all teachers and poets. Maybe because we are all of a similar age. Who knows why and I don’t care to question it, really, but these are my peeps. I’ll love you forever!