|
|
Post by LynnDoiron on Sept 11, 2008 13:07:59 GMT -5
www.americanlifeinpoetry.orgToday is September 11, 2008, and I've just read a poem by a man who lost a brother to the twin towers devastation. The poem came to me via american life in poetry, as one poem a week always does. The link is above. Tomorrow, September 12, I leave home in little red, my little red button of a car, and will be gone for one to two months. Places I will be for varying amounts of time include Santa Barbara CA, San Diego, Temecula, Rosarita Beach BJ, Phoenix and Cottonwood AZ, Las Cruces NM, Amarillo TX, Joplin MO, Paducah KY, Columbus OH, Pittsburgh, Williamsport, Reading, Philadelphia PA, Mystic CT. At least those are my stops going. Haven't planned out my return as yet. But I hope it includes Shirley MA. I've joined a site called Roadfood.com and I'm actively in pursuit of "the best" home cooking along the way -- best chicken-fried steak, best burger, best bbQ pork, best coconut cream pie, best meatloaf, best hot dog, best greasy spoon between the left and right coasts. So if any of you know of a place in Paducah KY that I should not miss . . . or any other place along these long highways -- give me a heads up, here, or by PM ... thanks. p.s. OR, if you know of good coffee houses or bars where poetry is read ... I'd stop at those places too. p.s.s. I will have my laptop along and will be checking in at the site and, hopefully, writing everyday and some of that writing, hopefull, will be good enought to share here.
|
|
|
|
Post by mfwilkie on Sept 11, 2008 22:02:08 GMT -5
Hawks and angels, chicky, hawks and angels.
Mugs
|
|
|
|
Post by Tina (Firefly) on Sept 12, 2008 11:30:50 GMT -5
Lynnie, how I do envy you! This sounds like a fantastic trip and a lovely time to soak up local color across the country. I'm sad that SC is not inclluded, but still count on you coming south again so I can really show you the amazing countryside in these here parts. (THat was intentionally colloquial, Marion, LOL) Anyhow, be safe, but allow for some risks just for the hellavit. Let us hear from you along the way. Love, TinaBobeena
|
|
|
|
Post by Ron Wallace (Scotshawk) on Sept 12, 2008 18:02:19 GMT -5
You know Durant, Oklahoma is right between Amarillo, Texas and Joplin, Missouri... almost, and I know where the best catfish is at. Ron
|
|
Ken_Nye
EP 500 Posts Plus
EP Word Master and Published Member
Posts: 646
|
Post by Ken_Nye on Sept 12, 2008 23:23:31 GMT -5
Lynne, Maggie and Donna (two Massachusetts girls) were talking about coming up to Maine sometime this fall. If theyl're still talking, why don't you talk them into coming up when you hit Massacgysetts?
Ken
|
|
|
|
Post by LynnDoiron on Sept 15, 2008 13:19:51 GMT -5
Thanks all for your notes and good wishes. Have posted a couple short notes on my blog lynndoiron.wordpress.com/ just the usual lynn doiron run on sentences and bizarre streams of thought, but, if you're interested, please take a look and leave me a note so I'll know you stopped by . . . just a simple Hey! will do nicely. Ken! Wouldn't that be terrific if it worked out! Would be for me. Never been to Maine (or Massachusetts! Or most of the states mentioned in my travel plans thus far.] Ron, if I can drop down to Durant on my return trip -- will give you an advance heads up notice. |
|
|
|
Post by Tina (Firefly) on Sept 15, 2008 16:56:19 GMT -5
Stopped by to see how you're doin', Missy Lynn. Love your blog and read a good bit of it. The funny thing is that it sounds like my mind..only your run-on sentences are much more refined. Love it. Keep truckin'. I envy your freedom and your bravery (and the food you are about to eat along the way!) Keep in mind, from W. Shakespeare: What Food These Morsels Be. (hehe) Tina
|
|
|
|
Post by Jonathan Morey Weiss-Namaste47 on Sept 15, 2008 19:07:15 GMT -5
That sounds wonderful, Lynnie. Not to copy Ron, but I'm in between Philly and Mystic.......you have my number.........You know how much I'd love to see you........Stay safe and relish the journey.
|
|
|
|
Post by LynnDoiron on Sept 16, 2008 10:37:57 GMT -5
A run on mind is exactly it, T! There's a poem in finding Jon between Philly and Mystic, and old woman with a number to call . . . Yes. Might have to take the road just so I can write the piece ....
Loving this time here with little Nicholas and daughter Dani and Josh their old Lab Brodie plus other grandkids [riggs and riley] and aimee's family.
And have decided my blog topic for today will be a piece comparing Beryl Markham [West Into The Night] the bush pilot and adventuress and her childhood experiences and later choices with my heroine character who is inspired by Irene. If I write it well enough, perhaps I can submit somewhere for publication. Even an online zine would be a good thing for advance marketing purposes. 'zine suggestions? anyone?
Thanks for your notes to me folks -- you make me feel a little bit at home even though far from it.
in santa barbara and signing out now -- lynnie
|
|
|
|
Post by Sherry Thrasher on Sept 17, 2008 13:12:55 GMT -5
Is this the proper place to express my jealousy? I mean how often do you get to seek and search out the best foods across America? I mean really! I see no mention of the southeast on your itinerary. I spoke to Maggie last night and she tells me of your travel plans to Ireland next year and I sat right there and invited myself along. Could I put in two cents and vote for spring break? Charleston was not long enough to hang out with you all. (Well, except for Leo maybe...sorry Leo!  ) I'd certainly sit in the Poets bar and have a pint or two with ye lassies (and then wander/stumble down the dusty trail findin' me way back to me cottage!?!?) Sherry |
|
|
|
Post by LynnDoiron on Sept 17, 2008 16:03:56 GMT -5
Did she send you the link to the cottage, Sherry? It is so fine and comfy looking. Who cares if it rains nine days out of ten -- right? I am looking for ways to approach and improve my www.lynndoiron.wordpress.com blog. I had Maggie give me some feedback this a.m., and I feel like I'm headed in the right direction, but, it's like I told her -- I need critical comments and also ideas or suggestions to other links that might either influence me in the writing of mine OR be great places for me to comment and leave a link back to mine. I am looking for the names of women who did things out of the ordinary -- dare devils and rebels, women that took on the male roles as bread winners in a time that women were not allowed outside the home very much. If you know of unknowns or the seldom sung of in this area -- give me a heads up? My current blog compares Beryl Markham and Irene [my novel's title character], to give you an idea of how I hope to incorporate my research and my writing into a promotional site for my novel. I need my writing friends to help keep me on track so please visit often and comment, comment, comment. Thanks muchly. me |
|
|
|
Post by Tina (Firefly) on Sept 21, 2008 11:45:43 GMT -5
Lynnie, you must be having so much fun! No kidding, I've told several of my women friends about your trip and they all are so envious..it's what we all wish we could do. You're an inspiration!! I have a very good friend from Paducah KY and she said the "Patti's" Restaurant in Grand Rivers, KY (very near Paducah) is THE place you must go. Been there forever, famous for local diner food, and lots of other stuff to explore right on the premises. Thought you would want this info. Keep us updated on your blog and here. Love, Tina
|
|
|
|
Post by LynnDoiron on Sept 23, 2008 9:41:50 GMT -5
Tina -- YOU PRECIOUS WONDERFUL WOMAN YOU! Patti's is exactly where I will go for eating while in Paducah. Thanks so much!
Am writing from Rosarito Beach, Baja, today. What follows is the first third of my blog for today. I keep them short, less than 500 words, and they're just sort of journaling notes as I go . . .
Yesterday Alice picked me up from Carolyn’s white hacienda with blue trim and uneven stone steps and brought me down to Rosarito. Her home is alive with color, saturated reds and blues and this room where I sleep is celery green with sky-blue shelves. There is a tall geisha on the far wall in a pink gown and she seems worked in pastels and there is a red backgrounded poster from the the Metropolitan Opera, Lincoln Center, dated 1966 gracing the wall on my right. There are, everywhere, pieces of time placed for comfort and pleasure and it is all pleasing to me.
[more at http://www.lynndoiron.wordpress.com]
|
|
|
|
Post by purplejacket on Sept 24, 2008 9:19:32 GMT -5
[sigh] I don't have much to say other than I'm glad you're sharing this life experience with us. And that I wish you were coming to Ithaca.
|
|
|
|
Post by LynnDoiron on Sept 24, 2008 14:57:27 GMT -5
How far is Ithaca from Shirley Mass?
|
|
|
|
Post by purplejacket on Sept 24, 2008 15:21:09 GMT -5
about 300-350 miles, depending
|
|
|
|
Post by LynnDoiron on Sept 25, 2008 12:46:38 GMT -5
You never knowwwwww -- [be careful what you wish for!]
Last night: salmon cooked to perfection at the home of a friend in her condo overlooking the pacific from her tile patio with lovely garden just inside the stone walls . . .
yesterday: best taco ever at El Yaqui Tacos, on a side street, on a flour tortilla that tasted like a fried pie pastry, and the filling was fresh, fresh with frijoles and pulled beef and avocado and lettuce and salsa or just plain fresh diced tomatoes. I grow fat. Scratch that. I grow fatter. And smile.
|
|
|
|
Post by mfwilkie on Sept 25, 2008 12:50:28 GMT -5
Milk or margharitas? ;D
|
|
|
|
Post by Sherry Thrasher on Sept 25, 2008 15:32:32 GMT -5
Maggie, that is a silly question! Lynn, I am greener than avocado green with envy. Beware of habanero peppers!
|
|
|
|
Post by mfwilkie on Sept 25, 2008 17:35:19 GMT -5
Not that silly of a question, Sher-Bear!! Mags
|
|
|
|
Post by LynnDoiron on Sept 25, 2008 19:51:20 GMT -5
A cabernet with the salmon which may sound not quite the thing but worked well for my palate and with the tacos an orange soda -- I was forewarned the milk was not all that cold and they did not serve margaritas . . . On the other hand, I have had a one on one lesson in the finer aspects of tequila, the grades, so to speak, and if I had been just a wee bit more sober, I bet I could pass some on here . . . but, alas, I cannot.
Tonight we are going to a 'joint' for a soup that sounds better than good.
And, a little petite and elegant woman is coming by to show me a house for rent in Alice's neighborhood [secure and quite wonderful as it is mostly Mexican families]. The woman's name is Sylvia and I think I am on the brink of renting some place down here for a year; a place I will return to after my big Road Trip to New England's fall. IF I do take the plunge and fall into this trap of living in leisure for less money, then I will have you, my Sher-bear, and you, Ms. Ithaca and you, TinaTinaBoBeena, and all other poets/writers with a need for some Baja to come visit me . . . THEN, with Maggie on board for mixing the margaritas and me around for keeping the milk cold, we will do some wording the likes of which no others have read for a while! Yi-HAH!
|
|
|
|
Post by brianedwards on Sept 25, 2008 20:42:38 GMT -5
Hey Lynn Just wanna say Hi and let you know how much I'm enjoying this thread. And can I also add my jealousy too? School is such a bore! Would so love to just hit the road for a couple/few months or more. (Though I can't really complain after a 7-week summer break  ) Be well. B. |
|
|
|
Post by LynnDoiron on Sept 25, 2008 22:26:13 GMT -5
Hey B! Good to hear from you.
The little house is little with a fair living room downstairs and small kitchen and concrete patio all enclosed and private about 12 x 12, which is good -- not too big and not too small; all the floors have just been retiled in those big like 18" square tiles, but plain beige, no color; all the walls are freshly painted and very pale yellow, more off white than yellow, but fresh, and clean; the upstairs has the bathroom, and three bedrooms, or two bedrooms and a small office as one of the bedrooms does not have a closet. Security gate with a guard 24/7; walking distance to stores and beach not far. I like it. Will take a Spanish course or two while I am here; learn a new language; hopefully make new friends in an old culture.
I may sign a year lease tomorrow from November 1 '08 to October 31 '09. At this point, something dreadful would have to happen to keep me from it.
Too much information, I know -- but I'm bustin' to tell somebody and my cell doesn't work from here and, well, there you go!
|
|
|
|
Post by mfwilkie on Sept 26, 2008 3:00:11 GMT -5
Good for you, chicky!!!!
Mugs
|
|
|
|
Post by Sherry Thrasher on Sept 26, 2008 7:25:17 GMT -5
Sounds wonderful! I'm there.
|
|
|
|
Post by LynnDoiron on Oct 4, 2008 21:16:00 GMT -5
Friday, late afternoon, October 3: On the inside the gate is turquoise at 420 Calle Guanabana, Rosarito. I had seis llaves made by the best key man in town and one of them opens the lock on that gate which is too tall to look over and picket-fence cut on the top. The latch is metal, with a slide – all parts are mottled with rust. Sixteen feet away in a chair against the far wall I sat with a Dos Equis in my right hand and a Swisher Sweet cigar I nursed along held in my left as I studied that gate and the sharp cut points of the blue-green wood and the aging latch with its slide. The bronze lock hung lopsided there, undone and on the ground bougainvillea leaves, pale brown and crisp, parked the way cars park on Avenue Benito Juarez – not quite side by side, nor parallel, crowded against one another, except when they aren’t.
After a time the cigar was half gone and the green bottle half empty. I knew I was happy, could feel myself smiling, even as I tipped up the bottle for another drink. The white drops of paint on the concrete patio seemed like happy marks. The turquoise drops of paint seemed even more so. The borrowed armchair from Alice’s house with its worn black leather and carved reproduction roses was smiling, too, and I, seated as I was on the bottom lip of the chair’s smile, could not help but grin. I had a tile floor to mop on the other side of the sliding glass door. Hell, I had a sliding glass door that stuck and took two hands and all my strength to inch it open or closed, it was mine for a year, and I would open it, just as soon as I finished my cigar and the beer.
|
|
|
|
Post by Tina (Firefly) on Oct 4, 2008 22:39:18 GMT -5
Oh, Lynnie. I can so easily imagine you sitting there with your beer and cigar. The bouginvilla. The spanish tiles. The turquoise fence. The sun and sea and most of all the freedom. Oh, the freedom to be there and do totally as you damn well please. No wonder you're happy. I'm happy for you. Keep writing. Keep telling your story. I'm buying!! Love, Bobeena
|
|
|
|
Post by LynnDoiron on Oct 5, 2008 13:29:19 GMT -5
Saturday's thoughts are here: lynndoiron.wordpress.com/2008/10/05/saturday-the-brown-plates-with-undecided-designs/Thanks BoBEEna MyTinaTina. Yes. Si. It's the freedom. Night before last that "freedom" included somebody's boom box playing American Acid Rock n'Roll so loudly I thought the windows might bust, but they didn't and after a while I just hummed along. It is not perfection here but I am content. Thanks for your note! If I am less seldom here, I do try to post to my blog daily. xoxoxoxo lynn |
|
|
|
Post by Tina (Firefly) on Nov 5, 2008 12:13:34 GMT -5
Lynnie, for those of us who have had to miss your blog recently, can you give us a little update on where you are now and what you are relishing as well as what isn't the best? Been thinking of you often and hope all is terrific!! Love, Bo Beena
|
|
|
|
Post by LynnDoiron on Nov 5, 2008 17:10:46 GMT -5
Welllll --- I started toward home [cottonwood] on Sunday because my boy will turn 40 on november 8 and I just wanted to hug him. Forty is a sort of milestone, age-wise, and I wanted him to know how proud I am of him and, you know, the stuff moms are about their children ... In Rosarito, despite all of the violence and shootings, in Rosarito where when one of talks of going stateside and others of us say, Gettin' out of Dodge, eh? and the joke isn't so much a joke as a testament to dodging bullets, in Rosarito where we have taken to avoiding all of the open air eating places (just to be on the safe side) -- there I felt pretty safe and, odd as it may sound, pretty much in control of my surrroundings. But, on Sunday when I started for home and crossed the border into California and had specialty motorcyles doing wheelies down the freeway, in the rain, at 80 mph, and other idiots in cars zooming in and out of traffic like mad dogs chasing crazy cats . . . then, then, I felt not in control and big-time in danger, and I white-knuckled the drive for 9 and a half hours that day and another six hours the next day. Very cold here in Cottonwood, and wet -- much different than Baja!
more later!
|
|
) I'd certainly sit in the Poets bar and have a pint or two with ye lassies (and then wander/stumble down the dusty trail findin' me way back to me cottage!?!?)
)