Sharon Creech's Blog, page 18

Wordless Thursday

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California Dreamin', part 3

For this last glimpse of Davis, CaliforniaI offer you thisfrom the central park

Overhanging the bench -artichokes!

I'd never before seen an artichoke growingand it made me laughto see it so boldly there.
The first thing that came to mindwas a descriptive paragraph written by one of my 11th grade English studentsnearly 30 years ago.
The student described a woman in a blue scarfstanding in an artichoke field.
The image was so vivid that I've carried it in my mindall these many years -
So intriguing, the words and imagesthat stay with us,don't you think?
A woman in a blue scarfstanding in an artichoke field.
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California Dreamin', part two

More from Davis, California



We are made of many pieces

We are playful

(See me in the overhead mirror?)

Trees bring peace

The wonder of an apricot tree!

The elegance of redwoods!
Such calm in this parkin Davis, Californiasuch tranquility


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California Dreamin' and Being . . .

Book tours have often led me to coastal Californiato San Francisco, Los Angeles,San Diego, San Jose
but this past week I've been in the central valleyflying into Sacramentoand then on to UC-Daviswhere I worked with teacher candidates.
Near my charming cottage/innwas a small park with elegant gardensand each morning before the workshopsI spent time here.

Amid the roses and lavender and scores of native plantswere intricate mosaicsand sculptures

Even the waste containers were decorative:

More tomorrow from this special parkbut first I need to saythat as special as the park is - the people I've met at UC Davisare even more special:one of the most memorable trips ever -and I came away with such hopeand a very full heart.
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Flying Off

I kid you notthis was straight out my office windowsuch a sight!
For you: butterfly on blossoms -a gift to tide you overwhileI'm off in Californiafor a few daysdoing workshops with teachersat UC-Davis.
Sacramento, here I come!
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Nesting: Birds and Writers

Every year the robins scope out our porchseeking shelter for their nestand every year they slop twigs and straw and leavesevery which way

and usually the mess-nest fallsthree or four or five timesbut they pick all the mess back upand slop it up against the pillarwhich isn't nearly wide enoughfor a secure nest

but they are stubbornand keep at itand slop some mud in itto cement it to thewhite pillar

and you know I'm going tocomparethis to writing a book, right?
. . .the way I toss this and that onto the pagehoping it sticksand sometimes it doesn'tand it makes a messbut I am stubbornand I keep at it
cementing those wordsto thewhite page.
ciao, bellas . . .xx

Such a Morning!

MorningLake Chautauqua, NY29 April 2012
Such a morning!
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Strangers

A few days before Monday's surprise snowwe were dive-bombed(lightly)on our porchby five or six of these moths?butterflies?
They seemed more moththan butterfly
similar to Monarchbut not quitesimilar to Viceroybut not quite
anyone know what it is?

Something is sprouting here -I can't remember what -but love the surpriseand the energyof these tenacious purple sprouts.
Any guesseswhat plant this might be?
Speaking of strangers(the moth and the sprouts)a favorite literary conventionof mine isa stranger comes to town.
Just writing that phrasegets my brainjumping!
Do you have a favoritestranger comes to town story?
I will quitasking youquestionsrightnow.
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Spring Snow

Last weekin shorts and tee shirtI was digging in the garden
This morningthe snow began
and it snowed and snowedall day long
and is still snowing now

like the white pagesof a manuscript:
a few pages at firstand then moreand moreuntil
it is so thick and deepyou could getlostinit.
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Small World

Sharon Creech, Walter CreechSouthport, NC2012
A couple weeks ago at an arts' festival in Southport, NC,my husband and I wandered into this boothand discovered that the artist's name isWalter Creech.
More of his art is here:Walter Creech
We're probably relatedin a distant wayto a slew of Scottish brotherswho settled in America.
Funny old small world.