Like I tell my writing students, putting words down on the page has a power all its own. It can help us to travel through time and leap across a map in a single bound. I was reminded of that this week in my very own town here on Cape Cod, in the Harwich Fire Department.

Back in September, I wrote about my father's work as a firefighter, and how he ( Read more... )

It's here-- the season we call "the holidays." Author James Carroll captures it beautifully ( Read more... )

It was a privilege to hear Mary Oliver read her poetry last night at Cape Cod Community College. Mary lives on the Cape, and she said with a smile, “It’s not often I read in my home country.”

My friend Pam Ross (writerross)asked me to detail the poems that Mary Oliver read, and I will do so, along with some quotes and impressions ( Read more... )

Happy Thanksgiving to all my LJ friends... I am inspired by your words, bouyed by your encouragement, and dazzled by your accomplishments.

I give you some Cape Cod cranberries... grown in the bog right down the road from me.

They were harvested (which means the bog is flooded, and the floating cranberries are then collected)
a few weeks ago.

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Fourth of July is a busy time here on Cape Cod.

It's a cloudy day here today (secretly, I don't mind!).


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Although I am not an actor or a playwright, theater has a big place in my life nonetheless. My daughter is very active in children’s theater… she loves to act, and I’ve had the joy of seeing her play roles such as Fern in CHARLOTTE’S WEB, and Lucy in THE LION, THE WITCH AND THE WARDROBE ( Read more... )

This month, I’m teaching a four-session professional development course for early childhood teachers on Cape Cod, at our local community college, about one of my favorite subjects-poetry! This is especially wonderful for me, because I get to wear my two hats at once - the “early childhood professor” hat, and the far more whimsical and colorful ( Read more... )

“Setting” is not just an element of what we write, it is crucial in terms of where we write. I, for one, love to write in libraries… away from my e-mail, phone, laundry, teaching materials, and very cute puppy. I’ve done some of my best writing in libraries, and really, one library in particular:
The Jonathan Bourne Library, in Bourne, MA.
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