GOOD-BYE, OHIO; HELLO, FLORIDA!

Good-bye fun times, like the live music by Sam and the Funky Nation at the Easton Town Center with my new friend, Kelly, who is the niece of the awesome artist, Janeen Mason.

Kelly, Sam and Donna

Good-bye lovely new friends . . .

Kelly and Donna

Meg

Amy

Pat and her new friend, a butterfly

Good-bye Thurber House . . .

Front of Thurber House

Muggs -- the dog who bit people -- fountain in outdoor Muggs Garden

Thurber House Dining Room

Pathway leading from house

Side yard and site of literary picnics

Good-bye young writers . . .

And young docents, who give fun tours of the Thurber House . . .

 The amazing teen writing group, some of whom drive an hour each way to attend the meetings.

And many dedicated, fun counselors . . .

John and Iris

Good-bye Topiary Park behind the Columbus Library (where I saw a homeless man pee on a bush).

Good-bye cool libraries . . .

Castle in Children's Department at Columbus Metropolitan Library

Good-bye Park of Roses . . .

Park of Roses

Good-bye Okapi (from the Columbus Zoo) . . .

Good-bye cool bridge on which I ate an apple during my 26 mile ride on the Olentangy Trail . . .

Good-bye Loft Bookstore in the German Village with your 32 rooms (that I may or may not have actually gotten lost in).

Good-bye crazy man dancing in a chicken suit at the Doo Dah Parade on the 4th of July . . .

One of the saner things seen at the Doo Dah Parade

Good-bye crazy boot camp class at Columbus Commons . . .

I believe we were hopping like frogs at this point.

Good-bye Jim Fischer, who created this fun, 3-minute video of the Children's Writer-in-Residence at the Thurber House . . .

Me taking a photo of Jim Fischer taking a video of me.

Good-bye funky pig from the North Market . . .

Good-bye authors I met at the literary picnics, like Mark Titus . . .

Mark Titus and me

Good-bye signed author photos all over the walls.  (I'll sign my photo tomorrow.)  Can't believe how many amazing authors have visited the Thurber House, like these guys . . .

Bill Bryson

T.C. Boyle

Good-bye sign I see every evening when I retire to the third floor apartment . . .

"The Attic where Grandfather used to sleep; now home to our Writer-in-Residence."

Good-bye view I've seen from my window every night for a month . . .

Good-bye bed . . .

Good-bye ghost . . .









HELLO, FLORIDA . . .

HELLO, HOME!!!

Best Teaching Experience of My Life

Revisited the kids at the Kings Art Complex this morning.

We gathered in a circle to share what we thought was the most important part of a book.  Character.  Plot.  Setting.  Dialogue. 

Then I read the beginning of Holes to show how sensory details bring a place to life.

The kids wrote about a place that mattered to them, using as many senses as possible.  I invited the two counselors to join the activity.

I wrote, too.  It brought me back to my mom's kitchen, when she used to fry onions and chicken livers.  (And cooked cow tongue.  No wonder I'm a vegetarian!)  I remembered how Mom's pink lipstick glistened and her odd, screechy laugh.

One of the counselors, Iris, read about sitting in the cafeteria in kindergarten and being forced to stay until she finished all her food.  The food was awful.  So she sat as all the other classes came and went, came and went.

John, the other counselor, wrote about the gym back home that he misses -- the sweat, the blood, the pain.  His writing drew us into his place entirely.

The kids were shy at first, but shared such wonderful writing.  I could almost taste the fried chicken at one boy's favorite restaurant -- Roosters.  And feel the eerie desolation of a place set in the future that was once happy, but not anymore.  We visited a classroom with a mysterious locked cabinet. 

We read more, chatted more, especially about the public library, and wrote more.  The hour passed too quickly.

I'm grateful to the Thurber House and the Kings Art Complex for arranging this time to share my love of reading and writing with the kids and counselors.

I'm especially grateful to the counselors, John and Iris, for not only participating, but embracing the activity.  Iris, it turns out, is studying to be a language arts teacher.  And John said he always wanted to be a writer.  He clearly already is a writer. 

Thank you, John and Iris!