Five Things on a Friday

[kellyrfineman]

Comments

[tamarak]

Enjoy Chains!

I just picked up The Possibilities of Sainthood. There are no gnomes on the premisis, so I hope to dig right in.

[kellyrfineman]

I googled the book you're reading. Looks fun!

King Philip's War

[slatts]

You know all that stuff happened in my neighborhood.... King Philip had many hideouts on islands in the Connecticut River right here in the Pioneer Valley. Supposedly a large stone was removed from Northfield some time before I came to move here. It was an Indian meditation spot. Maybe even for King Philip himself. The youth found that very cool. The elders did not. And removed it.

Re: King Philip's War

[kellyrfineman]

One ancestor was killed on October 5, 1675 at Springfield. He was, in fact, headed out to see if the Indians were up to something, and was ambushed, following which the Native Americans burned at least half of the settlement at Springfield.

Another was one of the "heroes" at the "Falls fight", which was actually more like a massacre. I actually cried when I learned what hell my ancestor and his confederates wrought that day. The place is now called Turner's Falls.

The place is now called Turner's Falls.

[slatts]

And that place is next door to this place --Northfield-- what I call "home."

Yes, there was a lot of brutality that went on between the folks that lived here and the folks that wanted to live here -- and eventually did.

Can you say "Bloody Brook?" Awful.

Re: The place is now called Turner's Falls.

[kellyrfineman]

We've got lots of ancestors from Westfield, but I don't recall seeing Northfield in there yet. My ancestor that was at the "Falls fight" led the militia from Hadley at the time.

[christy_lenzi]

Have you heard Billy Collins in San Francisco on FORA.tv? He reads selected poems and comments on them: http://fora.tv/2008/04/07/A_Selection_of_Poems_by_Billy_Collins

[kellyrfineman]

Ooh - I hadn't known about that until just now. And I popped over and skipped down to where he answers some questions from the audience on reading and writing poetry. I'll have to watch the full thing later. Thanks for the tip!

[christinenorris]

My Grandmother's got one branch of our tree down to the Welcome - William Penn's ship. So apparently we were Quaker on that end.

[kellyrfineman]

I think we have Quakers somewhere back along on my mother's side, too, some of whom came from England to PA in the 1600s. I have to research the details there - perhaps we're kin!

[christinenorris]

Wouldn't that be a hoot? I often wonder what happened to the children of my great-great-great grandfather (on my mother's side - I've been to the cemetary and found them all) and that I have third and fourth and fifth cousins somewhere that I don't know.

[ex_kmessner]

Many comments from me today...

1. You're going to love CHAINS.
2. And yes, the cover art is amazing. Christopher Silas Neal is a talented, talented guy.
3. Thanks for reminding me to pick up Ballistics.
4. Billy Collins and Naomi Nye at the same festival??! Wow!
5. Good luck with the gnomes. I *heart* the gnomes...

[kellyrfineman]

I couldn't believe the lineup at the festival. They had me at either Billy Collins or Ted Kooser, and to add Robert Hass and Charles Simic and Lucille Clifton and Simon Armitage and Maxine Kumin and Naomi Shihab Nye and Joy Harjo and Mark Doty and more makes it sort of a critical mass of poetry, somehow. Plus there's music. And food.

Oh. And thanks for your kind words about the gnomes. My revision pass hasn't been particularly heavy, but it has benefited from your kind comments. And it necessitated me adding another scene, which I still have to revisit to make sure it works!