Word of the Week: everything
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Dear ,
Last week, I promised to share a few of my May "whole enchilada" escapades with you, so here goes. (No worries, I'm not telling you "everything" -- this is the condensed version!) You may know that I've been living a "two-state" commuting life since November, when my husband took a job in Texas. It became clear in early May that it wasn't working out, so, just a few weeks after my grandson was born, we packed our whole Texas household into a U-Haul, and drove back to NC, arriving just two days before we had to fly to Minneapolis for a week-long conference. Throw in a freezer full of food lost due to a power outage while we were gone, a dryer that gave up the ghost, and... well, I could go on, but that's enough enchilada for now!
Except for the best part, which is that, while I was in Minnesota, I got to fulfill a childhood dream and go to "Deep Valley," where my fictional friend Betsy Ray, who first inspired me to become a writer, grew up.
Me on "Betsy's" porch; how perfect can light get?
Betsy's life is a fictionalized version of the life of author Maud Hart Lovelace, who was born in 1892 in the town of Mankato, MN, and began "being a writer" as a little girl. There are 10 "Betsy-Tacy" books in all, and several other Deep Valley books (Tacy was Betsy's best friend who lived right across the street, based on Maud's real life best friend who really did live right across the street). The first book begins with Betsy's fifth birthday and last book captures Betsy's first year of marriage when she is in her twenties, and I still love each one! I read them over and over and over again as a child, and more than once as an adult, too.
And I am in good company! New York Times bestselling author Anna Quindlen wrote a preface to a recent reissue of one of Lovelace's books in which she says, "There are three authors whose body of work I have reread more than once over my adult life: Charles Dickens, Jane Austen, and Maud Hart Lovelace."
I spent so many happy hours in Deep Valley in my imagination -- can you imagine how excited I was when I discovered that there is a Betsy-Tacy Society in "Deep Valley" (you can visit it here: http://www.betsy-tacysociety.org/home
), and that the great folks who are a part of it, including these two lovely Susans in the photo below (taken in Tacy's house), have restored both Betsy and Tacy's houses and that they can be toured?
My wonderful husband patiently walked, not only through both houses, but also through the streets of Mankato with me as I snapped photos of one book-landmark-come-to-life after another, even the library that the real life Maud and the fictional Betsy both frequented.
I could go on and on, and I've said too much already. So I'll just say that I'm sharing one of my favorite Betsy-Tacy stories with you below, one in which Betsy, Tacy, and their friend Tib make "everything pudding," and that you're invited to
Come write yourself this Thursday, this Saturday, or next Thursday!
If you, like Betsy and me, grew up wanting to be a writer, and if you wish you were writing more, here are some great opportunities for you in the upcoming WordPlay below.
And if you're not in the Charlotte area and you're interested, shoot me an email at info@wordplaynow.com. If there's enough interest, I'll create an online version just for you.
Wishing you a childhood dream fulfilled, and everything delicious writing has to offer,
Maureen
Upcoming WordPlay
See attached registration form for more offerings.
WRITE YOURSELF! (Writing Inspiration; Creating New Writing; Fueling a Current or Languishing Writing Project ; Rekindling Your Writing Passion; Getting Unstuck) $30/session
WHEN: Thursday, June 6 and/or June 13, 7 to 9 pm
WHERE: Covenant Presbyterian Rec Center, 1000 East Morehead, 28204
Want to come? Just register via PayPal or credit card with the link for the workshop yo'd like to attend:
Write Yourself on June 6th
Write Yourself on June 13th
Or shoot me an email at info@wordplaynow.com to let me know you'll be there and you can pay in person.
Either way, I'll send you details and directions and see you then! SUMMER WRITING RETREAT (Writing- - and More -- as Renewal; Creating New Writing; Recharging Writing Energy)
$97 includes lunch, handouts, and supplies.
WHEN: Saturday, June 8, 10 am to 5 pm
WHERE: South Charlotte (details upon registration)
ONLY ONE SPOT LEFT!
Want to come? Just register via PayPal or credit card with this link
WordPlay Summer Writing Retreat Or shoot me an email at
info@wordplaynow.com to let me know you'll be there and you can pay in person. Either way, I'll send you details and directions and see you then!
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"Betsy's" kitchen where "Everything Pudding" was made!
Featured Writing
An excerpt from Chapter 5, "Everything Pudding" in
Betsy-Tacy and Tib
by
Maud Hart Lovelace
"I don't know how to cook," said Betsy. "But I think it's time I learned." She looked around the kitchen. "Do you know what I'd like to cook first?" she asked.
"What?" asked Tacy and Tib. "It's called Everything," said Betsy.
"It's called Everything because it's got everything in it." Tacy and Tib looked puzzled and Betsy explained." A little bit of everything there is, cooked up in one pan. I think it would be delicious." "I think it would be queer," said Tib. "It sounds queer," said Tacy. "What would it be like, I wonder?
"Well, " said Betsy, looking at the ceiling, "I've never tasted it, of course. Nobody's ever tasted it, because nobody ever cooked it. We're inventing it right now. But I imagine that it would taste like everything good mixed together. Ice cream and blueberry pie and chicken with dumplings and lemonade and coffee cake. . ." "Coffee cake is baked," said Tib. "This wouldn't be baked," said Betsy, "because Mamma said we weren't to open the oven door. But we could mix it up in a pan and heat it on top of the stove the way we did the cocoa." Tacy's blue eyes were sparkling. "Why don't we?" she asked.
Maureen's note: And so they did, beginning with bacon grease and ending with vanilla, lemon, almond, and rose flavorings -- with sugar, milk, egg, coffee, tea, tapioca, cinnamon, vinegar, and a whole lot more in between... And I don't think you'll be surprised to know that all three of them had stomach aches that night!
WordPlay Now! Writing Prompt
This is WordPlay -- so why not revel in the power and potential of one good word after another? This week, it's "everything."
Write about a time when "everything" ended up being too much for you -- or for a character, real or imagined.
Want to be featured in a future Word-zine?
Send in a piece of your writing that you think could inspire other WordPlayers to write. 500-word limit, please.) You can send something inspired by this writing, or anything else of your choosing. Email your words to WordPlay here
and your piece may be chosen for a future Word-zine.
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MAUREEN RYAN GRIFFIN, an award-winning poetry and nonfiction writer, is the author of Spinning Words into Gold, a Hands-On Guide to the Craft of Writing, a grief workbook entitled I Will Never Forget You, and two collections of poetry, This Scatter of Blossoms
and When the Leaves Are in the Water. She believes, as author Julia Cameron says, "We are meant to midwife dreams for one another."
Maureen also believes that serious "word work" requires serious WordPlay, as play is how we humans best learn -- and perform. What she loves best is witnessing all the other dreams that come true for her clients along the way. Language, when used with intentionality and focus, is, after all, serious fuel for joy. Here's to yours! |
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