Tuesday, June 24, 2008
HITTY


So as some of my friends and family know, i have been slowly working my way through some of the Newberry winners. I picked up one book called HITTY which was apparently the memoirs of a doll. I found this interesting as I had recently been thinking about writing the memoirs of a pair of tennis shoes. So I checked it out and read some of it and it was excellent and I loved it. Maybe my favorite Newberry so far. But the real fun has been runnign into HITTY fans, which happens pretty much whenever I carry the book in plain sight. Also there are HITTY websites and clubs, etc.

The book was written in 1929, so interesting when something that old stands up. I also found a picture of the author, she is a plain looking young woman who lived in Maine. But how sharp and observant and funny she is. I feel like I made a new friend. That's what's so great about good books. They are good company!


Friday, June 13, 2008
Writer's Retreat in the Mountains


So last week I was lucky enough to attend a writer's Retreat in the Imnaha River Valley. This retreat is run by FISHTRAP which is this great writers organization in Northeastern Oregon. They have a big conference in the summer on Lake Wallowa which I had attended in the past. They also do workshops at other times during the year, one of which i will help run this September.

That will be totally fun as Enterprise and Joseph, the two towns they are based out of, are dry, high altitude mountainous areas. The whole region is thought of as the Alps of the Pacific Northwest, but in fact it is full of ranches and cowboys and lots of Native American lore. So it is kind of more like Wyoming than it is like Switzerland.

The retreat is way out in the mountains, one canyon over from Hell's Canyon and the border of Idaho.

This is the actual cabin. It was very nice. A real log cabin, with the interlocking logs and wood burning heat. Really an amazing little spot, donated to Fishtrap by the Driver family.




This was how you got to the cabin. That is the Imnaha River, and it was raging, tons of snow in the mountains and lots of rain. Walking this footbridge got a little interesting. I am glad I didn't have to do it after a night on the town.




I thought while I was there: how would I describe this area to my non-oregon friends? "Colorado 1948" was one thing I came up with. Though i came to realize that wasn't exactly right either.

The main thing for me in a place like this is: are there cows? I love cows. If there are cows around I never get bored. i like to sit above them on a hill and watch them. Or just stand around among them. Being with cows is like a long walk on the beach. It calms you deeply. It alters your internal chemistry.




Since there was no TV, no cell reception, no long distance phone, no computer, no wifi, no DVD player, no CD player, no VCR, all there was to do was, walk, work, read, cook, eat and hang out with my Retreat mate Anna Means. She is an editor at a small newspaper in Idaho. She was much more "from around here" than I was, and so great company and good at explaining all the goings on, in the local ranches and animal life . . .




When I was fourteen and living in Portland, I came out to this same area and stayed at a "dude ranch"(how appropriate). There, I used to get up at 5 in the morning and go hunt squirrels. I know, I know, what did the squirrels ever do to me? I feel bad about that.

But I used to love to be crawling around in the Blue Mountains as the sun came up and I would see endless deer, rabbits, squirrels, etc. If you didn't get up early you missed them as sun-up is pretty much when everybody (animals) are out and moving around.

So one day i did the same here, got up at 4:30 and went for a long walk and perched for a while in a great spot, way up the hillside and saw some deer and some wild turkeys but nothing that spectacular. A little disappointed I hiked back to our cabin and was walking along, and had put my camera away and was talking to myself, when I very nearly stepped on this little guy.

A just-born fawn! He was asleep in the grass, just over the fence from our cabin. I freaked out but did manage to take this picture. At first I thought he might be sick or hurt or something but he was just asleep. His very annoyed mother was actually right behind me, glaring at me, as i took this picture. He also had a brother who I almost stepped on as well, as I was trying to delicately step around this first guy.

After thoroughly disrupting their morning, I hurried away, and left the two fawns and their mama in peace.




This is the Imnaha River Valley.




waiting for the cows to move so I could leave . . . a kid was running along, driving them down the road . . .