Even though it is a hot, sunny and humid afternoon, more storms are predicted with flash flood warnings. Believe me, when a person faces cleaning up after high waters, shoveling winter snow seems like a much preferred activity! Though, for survivors, life goes on…as always.
I spent last week at the low residency Creative Writing Master Program at Wilkes University in Wilkes-Barre. It was an exciting and fun week. I caught up with ‘new old friends’. Then I bit the bullet and signed up for full time classes for fall and winter terms. This puts me on target to graduate next June. It will demand a concentrated focus on my part but it is doable. I have a wonderful mentor and look forward to getting started with her on my thesis project. This residency I found myself interacting with students younger than my grandchildren, that felt a bit strange for me and I’m sure for them, too! My favorite friend is my age and comes all the way from Melbourne, Australia. I’ve promised myself a trip to visit her in Australia as a graduation gift to myself at some point in the future!
She and I went to see the movie, Internship a in Wilkes-Barre, feeling a need for some silly brain dead entertainment and were pleasantly surprised to see a really good movie! The laughter was an excellent stress reliever.
I’ve read this year’s Pulitzer Prize winner in fiction, The Orphan Masters Son by Adam Johnson was gruesome and hard to follow at times, BUT also unforgettable. It deals with the terrible living conditions in North Korea.
I also read The Obituary Writer by Ann Hood. It was another winner, with a twist near the end that pulled the two stories in one together. Loved it! Next I read Elizabeth Berg’s Range of Motion. A simple short novel that stays with the reader long after the last page. I am currently reading and enjoying an historical fiction, The Shoemaker’s Wife by Adriana Trigiani. It is quite different from her other books I’ve read.
Tomorrow is July 4, USA’s official 237th birthday! I wish you all a safe and happy Independence Day/Week of celebrations.
Till next time…keep reading my friends.
Ann