Guess What? Turns Out, Other People Have Blogs too!

It may be a quiet summer in some places; down at our pond, though, two frogs have been really going at it. Vocally, I mean. They’re on opposite sides of the water, and—at least just about every time I go down there—they are carrying on a compelling conversation. One might even say it’s downright deep.

Funny timing, actually, because one of my readers recently wrote me to ask if I’d participate in a “blog hop.” She prefers to call it a “blog tree,” but my frogs are strong advocates for hopping, so I’ll stick with them.

Polly Brown (don’t you just LOVE her name?) is a teacher and a poet who started a blog when she took a break from daily classroom work. She’s sifting through her memories of teaching in the middle grades, describing the kinds of activities she and her students did together and particularly those moments when learning was most evident—when she could almost really see it happening. Lord knows us teachers have precious little time for reflecting on our practices during the school year, so it’s wonderful that she’s taking time now to share kernels of her experiences. You can read about her discoveries here.

And here you can also visit her particular lily pad to see answers to the “blog hop” questions.

Now I’ll take my turn. If this develops into only so much croaking, at least that ought to be slightly preferable to crowing, which I will assiduously avoid.

What am I writing/working on? 

On my site, I’m simply trying to articulate my particular “take” on common daily goings on, starting with the interweaving of secular and religious experiences.I’m interested in all kinds of junctures, moments of contrast as well as moments of coming together. And then there are those two long chapters of a book, drafted over many hours a couple of years ago and still in need of revising. This work emerged from the many pages of a journal–primarily about the experience of being a clergy spouse–that I kept over several years. In a few weeks, once our three kids are situated in their three new endeavors, I will attend a week-long writing program on an island in Lake Superior with the specific goal of drawing the full arc of the book that’s been waiting, tapping its fingertips on the tabletop.

How does my work differ from others of its genre?

Claiming to be in a genre at all sounds a little highfalutin, doesn’t it?  It took me a little while to discover that many blogs of this ilk—the “let me tell you about my experience” kind– feature shorter pieces and aim to generate more discussion. Like the other Polly, I favor the essay form, which may seem ponderous to some. I could try harder to present material that invites reactions from readers, that generates some buzz. Sometimes I think that just portraying what I see is enough, maybe neglecting making that crucial eye-to-eye connection with readers.

Why do I write what I write?

For me, I guess, writing is a kind of sanctuary that offers something very different than the regular to-do list. I enjoy being physical and active most of the time, often with other people. This summer, for instance, I have loved playing tennis as much as I ever did when I was a teenager. Attaining a better level of organization in any area of life – a bookshelf, a kitchen or a garden– is also a high priority. But I guess I also happen to be someone who has swirling thoughts that need an outlet, especially when I’m seeing a kind of “connect the dots” illustration in my head. Of course, I have no idea whether the illustration will be interesting to anyone else. Frankly, I kind of cringe to think about this whole issue.

How does my writing process work?

Keeping up a blog is a little like having a son or daughter join a travel team: you sign up with enthusiasm and then find it’s about getting to that practice each week. To use that hackneyed word, the regular posting becomes a “commitment.” Benefits accrue only through keeping this regular date. Without some obligation to sit down at the screen, I would not have been able to make a bound collection of my essays; a 240 page volume recently arrived in the mail, thanks to an order through a website. (It’s not really a book, of course, but it looks like one.)

On the other hand, each and every week, it’s easy to slip into an examination of what other things might be able to happen in the household if I weren’t immobile. I guess the bottom line is that, most of the time anyway, I truly enjoy the process of getting an inkling of an idea and then fleshing it out, usually over a couple of days’ time. Not to make too much of this, but I’m conscious of experiencing some kind of “flow” while I’m writing. Afterwards, it feels a little like having gone for a run—satisfying because I came a little more clearly into my mind instead of my body. Or something like that.

My future blog plans:

To figure out either how to stop this thing gracefully, as someone exits a cocktail party by backing gradually out the door, or how to channel what’s already here into a full-length volume that might actually interest an agent, get published and maybe even please readers. One thing is pretty clear: I don’t think I can keep doing this, week after week, and also give adequate attention to crafting an entirely different combination of long chapters. Multi-tasking is fine and good, but there’s a limit.

As my brother is fond of saying, “Enough about me…how do YOU like my shirt?”

Finally, here are the names of three blog writers I know and admire who have also agreed to welcome you to their respective lily pads.

First, it’s always good to have a little solidarity in the “bishop spouse” category. Anne Barker lives way the heck out in Nebraska (or maybe I live way the heck out in New England), is a practicing therapist and maintains an engaging blog on her business website.  Take a look here.  You’ll notice that she has taken a little hiatus since the winter, but—just you watch—she’ll be coming roaring back soon with her characteristic tales of regular life incidents and accompanying emotions that bubble up from them, followed by questions to readers, followed by book suggestions. Nice.

The Rev. Margaret Bullitt-Jonas, a former colleague of my husband’s, is now the Missioner for Creation Care in the Episcopal Diocese of Massachusetts. Her title may be long, but the goal of her work is pretty simple: we need to save our planet.For a long time now, she has been tirelessly focused on bringing religious and secular elements of our society together to address the perils of global warming.Her website is called, “Reviving Creation” and you can read her latest essay here.

There’s the large scale, and then there’s the small. Nick Grabbe, a reporter from Amherst who recently retired, is now devoting his efforts to living close to the land—in town, even.  He writes about gardening, foraging, finding pleasure in paring things down–alongside his wife, who shares his values. I dare you not to get a tranquil feeling from these musings. I see he’s just posted something about not using certain appliances. Going back a bit, you can read all about his tomato struggles, here.

And what better place to leave you in mid-August, than in the tomatoes, creatures struggling to become what they are destined to be!

I wonder what my frogs would make of them…