Coming Back into Country

[abbzug]

I am back in Appalachia from a wonderful, whirlwind trip back to Pittsburgh. Got in very late Friday afternoon - SO much traffic in the city - and ended up missing dinner out with SSG and the two featured residency faculty. Well, I tried. Drove aimlessly around a part of town I'm not that familiar with anymore (Shadyside), looking for the

Comments

[calypso72]

Isn't it amazing how quickly you forget simple things like street names in places where you lived not that long ago? Just in the 6 months I was away from ATL I started to forget stuff like that.

Janisse Ray is FANTASTIC! She is also a big supporter of TNC in GA and has written beautifully about one of the places we protect specifically in Ecology of a Cracker Childhood and in general the longleaf pine ecosystem which is a big focus area for us here. That's so cool that you have met her. She has given readings of her works at fundraising events for us.

[abbzug]

I have to say that she is definitely one of the very nicest people I have ever, ever in my life met. On Friday night, right before her reading, I saw her in the bathroom. She looked at me and said, with absolute sincerity, "I am so glad you are here." And then Saturday night, when she found out that I wasn't staying the whole residency, she said, "My only regret about this whole residency is that I didn't get to know you better." That sounds a little funny, for her to say to someone she doesn't really *know*, but I really believe she meant it

[eve_prime]

I'm so glad you got to go do this.