(somewhere in here I think there's a hawthorn tree)
I spent the afternoon at the Goddard campus and downtown Plainfield yesterday.
I went back to the meadow I've been visiting, and when I came back up the trail and lay in the grass next to Flanders, where Earthwalk's offices are, I peaked around the back and saw that the director, Angela Gibbons and her cohorts were having a snack outside. So I went over to say hi and got a big hug from Angela, who I've known since 1991, when she first came into town. Just a lovely person. When I told her about the (seemingly) dozens of varied colored dragonflies I saw out in the meadow she heartily agreed the woods are magic, just - magic. She told me they call the meadow Hawthorn Meadow, because there's a couple of knarly old hawthorn trees there - the kind of tree you might want to give a wide berth, as it's branches are full of very sharp long thorns. So, that's where I've been spending spacious short outings - Hawthorn Meadow. The kids who attend the Earthwalk school (8-14 year olds, I think) go on Thursday and Friday mornings. Early in October there's going to be a community day where non-students are invited, which I am planning on attending.
An old friend of mine from early college days is on the campus this weekend to attend a conference and although she wasn't immediately available at 2:30, she was at 4:30, and in the meantime I visited the Plainfield Co-op, the used bookstore, the Blinking Light Gallery, and the beer making supply store (pretty bottles displayed in the window drew me in). When I found Kath, my old friend, we went out back to the swings behind Kilpatrick dorm and caught up, as much as is possible in an hour or so after, um, 24 years. !!! Anyway, she's a writer, is working on a memoir, and I found myself sharing my experiences with my family's story, which I haven't abandoned, but have given little of my attention lately. It felt good to see that sometimes that happens, and may in fact be a necessary part of the process.
