Wednesday 3 July 2013

One of those days.

It has been one of those days today - I have been out all day - thanks in part to the generosity of friend S, who collected me in her car both morning and afternoon.   Hopefully I shall be driving again by next week as my six months of not driving is up and my health report is good.

This morning was our Wensleydale Writers' Group meeting.   We meet in the Quaker Meeting House - a lovely venue of peace and quiet, very conducive and a pleasure to be in.

This morning our task was to choose a post card from a selection on the table (they are face down so you don't know what you are getting) and spend twenty minutes writing using the picture as a basis for your writing.   Some folk wrote a straight forward descriptive piece, some wrote imaginative conversations - a particularly interesting one was H, who wrote an imaginary conversation between the two daughters of Thomas Gainsborough - her card was a representation of the painting.  Another fascinating one was written by L who had a post card showing a particularly atmospheric section of Hadrian's Wall and who wrote what was almost a prose poem about it.

At the end of our meeting, in the final quarter of an hour, we discussed perhaps running a course for ourselves.   We are going to research possible things we could do (the postcard idea above was in itself very successful and could certainly be one element) and report back at the next meeting.   If any of you out there have been on writing courses and have any ideas, I would be grateful if you could let me know in my comments box.

After lunch it was our monthly Poetry afternoon.   Only seven of us today - it is after all the holiday season.   Here we sit in friend W's conservatory and read aloud our favourite poetry.   Is it just me or does everyone find poetry read aloud so much more enjoyable than poetry read on the page? We had work by Tessimond, Betjamen, Basil Bunting, Norman McCaig, Alun Lewis, John Clare, Edward Thomas, Emily Bronte, Byron, Wendy Cope and from our new member a lovely reading of Young Lochinvar.  Such a civilised couple of hours.

Home again at half past four.   I switched on the television to see how Andy Murray was doing in the quarter finals but I must say that I find it too stressful to watch (is that cowardly?) so I shall wait until the match is over to find out the result.

So altogether a lovely day.   Now the sun is shining.  There has been little or no rain and the vegetable garden is desperate for water.   A mini heat wave is promised for the next few days.   Speaking of heat waves - spare a thought for our friends, particularly those in blogland, who live in the area around Death Valley - in Colorado, Utah, New Mexico - who are suffering a terribly hot spell and where the firemen have been killed in the giant forest fire.  At least we haven't got that to contend with.

11 comments:

Heather said...

That sounds like a lovely day. What a clever idea to select a postcard to provide inspiration for writing. I remember learning Young Lochinvar at junior school, though sadly not the poem itself after all these years.
I cheat and wait for the result before watching Andy Murray - it avoids stress! I have a sneaking suspicion that my husband does the same when Gloucester or England are playing rugby!

MorningAJ said...

I like that postcard idea. It sounds like fun.

Cloudia said...

You should check out blogger, author, Charles Gramlich. 'Writing with Fire" is a worthy manual of good writing.

BTW. I was born in the Quaker City, in the Quaker state of PENNsylvania. Admiral Penn Took Jamaica for England. Hi us son began a Utopian colony on royalty grant lands!



Aloha :-)

Cloudia said...

Next we shall discuss what the Hawaii flag includes the Union Jack :-)

JoAnn ( Scene Through My Eyes) said...

A lovely day all around. I like to hear poetry, or anything read aloud. Don and I often read to each other in the evenings - as we don't watch TV. Sometimes we have a discussion about what we are reading and sometimes not, depending on the subject.

I love the writing club idea - and the postcards seemed to really inspire different concepts in each person - I would have loved to hear them read.

JoAnn ( Scene Through My Eyes) said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Pondside said...

I like the sound of your day - especially the bit that included poetry read aloud. I don't enjoy poetry when I read it to myself, but love to have it read aloud by someone else.

Em Parkinson said...

I feel for your tennis stress Pat!

Crafty Green Poet said...

Yes Murray's match was a bit stressful to watch!

I like visual writing prompts like postcards. Another one i like is to write down short scenarios (eg three people trapped in a lift) and ask people to write about them or to make a short list of words and ask everyone to use all the words in a poem.

Gwil W said...

I find it difficult to watch tennis on TV. Maybe it's because the serve is too fast nowadays and/or my eyes are getting older. Do they have even have rallies anymore?

For the Class: Maybe everyone can watch a sporting event on TV and then write a journalistic account in the style of their favourite newspaper?

The Weaver of Grass said...

Thanks for the writing ideas - keep them coming please - I am making a list for our next meeting.

Margaret (Thousand Flower) the majority of our wild roses are Rosa Canina (dog rose) and they can vary in colour from white through to deepest pink. They have a wonderful scent which is very delicate but also long lasting.