…And this is based on something read on Lemon Hound here, and at Alone on a Boreal Stage here. Because of the excellent blogging I discover at both blogs, I decided to tackle a small project of my own, inspired in a way by all women writers. I’ve been thinking a bit about this line from Lemon Hound:

“What if Susan Sontag had blogged? What if Gertrude Stein or Mina Loy had blogged?”

So, naturally I wondered, because I am most familiar with her work, what if Gertrude Stein had blogged?

So I decided to procrastinate renovating my computer room (usually the opposite happens where I procrastinate writing and renovate) and attempt to do some small writing exercises based on the works of these writers, and other writers that never had the opportunity to blog, to write some stuff in emulation, and hopefully create something of my own in return. I’m going to start small today (these will hopefully get more intricate as I think on them more, or not) and work my way up in the next few weeks to something bigger and better.

A Blog

A well. An inked mountain. Inky swell. Hanging of the hat. Headspace; the rest coming. An opening. Daybreak sliced back in peelings. Sewing into what has been hidden. A needling in. The weeded container of what sprouts in rows. A garden. A rose hipped in the nose of morning. Line of dew. Dropped. The plural hoe, digging through. Dug. Dust. A spot underneath. Rubbed away. Running away. Carried on the backs of furrows.

…while finishing the last week of duty as colony coordinator at St. Peter’s Abbey is Fernando Pessoa’s The Book of Disquiet. I’ve really enjoyed meeting everyone and I’m quite pleased with the opportunity to visit the Abbey and Muenster area again for such an extended time. I’m not sure if I produced as much work as I wanted, but I’m happy with my outcome, so far. I still have just under a week to work, so work I will.

Also, one of the last sunset shots, this was taken on the #6 heading north last week from Regina. Yes, B, I was driving at the time. It couldn’t be helped. It’s an addiction: picturetaking and driving.

…to see Jeanette Lynes and Ariel Gordon both in one night. Ariel gave me a present she found at VV, a cougar belt, tagged from the bed/bath department (somehow strange and yet fitting for a cougar belt). It was a great evening, and such a great gift to spend some time with both.

The clouds parted long enough after dumping more rain than we need in one week to let the red wash the last bit of day from the needled hips of evergreen trees.

shot I have is courtesy of Ibi Kaslik who was here the first week of colony. The greenery is very lush now as we’ve had rain/storms every day for the past week or so.

At the end of each week we have our own reading series, The Gazebo Room Readings (photo also courtesy of Ibi).

…pictures of St. Peter’s because I forgot my camera, not once but twice. I could’ve have used it many times, especially yesterday, as I came close to a coyote who was curious to see where I was going on my walk. He grew bored with me, probably because I didn’t have my camera.

So, instead of a picture, I’ll give you a quote from Annie Dillard’s book For the Time Being:

“Sometimes we touch strangers. Sometimes no one speaks. Like clouds we travellers meet and part with members of our cohort, our fellows in the panting caravans of those who are alive while we are. How many strangers have we occasion to hold in our arms?”

…at Emma had me up most of the night. Near sunrise, night’s fog began to lift, and there I was in a row boat, rowing along with two others, in the channel between big Emma and little Emma (not an easy feat in daylight let alone the fading dark). A crescent moon rose above the spruce. It was a good two weeks at the colony, once the weather finally became agreeable, and I plan to return next year to capture more sunsets with my camera. This week I’m off to St. Peter’s for 5 weeks, where I’m sure the sun sets equally well in the north-west horizon, and hopefully I’ll post some pics while I’m there.

Launching the ducks with candles onto the lake. Blurry, because the photos are taken without a flash, and because they are without a flash, the shutter time is too long for me to hold that still. I can’t quite figure out how to focus it and shoot with the long shutter time, and have no idea where the manual is (if anyone has any expertise on this please let me know); however, they make for cool pictures. Very ritualistic. The one candle and duck lasted nearly an hour until people on a boat overturned the little reed duck, extinguishing it forever.

…sunset shot so far. This shot overlooks Fairy Island, which never used to be an island, but years ago, don’t ask me how many, they dug a channel between big Emma and little Emma and flooded certain sections of the landscape. Thus, the island was created. It used to be tradition, according to writer legend, to swim over to the island sometime during your stay here. I didn’t bring a bathing suit. I will not be skinny dipping in this lake–it is far too full of strange creatures.