mermaidcamp
Keeping current in wellness, in and out of the water
You can scroll the shelf using ← and → keys
#WeekendCoffeeShare Food Festival Fun
February 4, 2017
— 7 Comments
Savor
Savor
If we were having coffee today in Tucson I would invite you to sit back and enjoy a cup of your favorite beverage while you tell me about your week. I am drinking iced roiboos tea and relaxing after attending our favorite food party of the year. The Tucson Botanical Garden is the venue for this culinary fiesta each February. Chefs, restaurants, caterers, distillers, brewers, and food providers of every kind set up stations to offer tastings to the guests. We pay $65 per person, then roam around the gardens eating and drinking, tasting our way though the wonderful options. The quality is outstanding since the purpose is to show off and find new customers. It works well for everyone. We always find a new place or product to try that we might not otherwise have discovered. This time we found an excellent Mexican restaurant we have not tried, and much to my surprise, there is a distillery making very tasty gin downtown Tucson. Who knew? The event lasts for 4 hours, but I believe I would burst if I stayed for the whole time. We lasted for about 2 hours before we called the Uber.
I am interested in your latest news about your writing projects. Some of you have inspired me to try my hand at writing fiction. I wrote another piece this week based on a photo prompt, and once again it was dark and disturbing. I surprise myself with these eerie, haunted stories. I plan to continue if only as a form of self analysis. I am discovering a part of my brain that makes up dark stories. I hope I will be able to make it create some brighter, funnier stuff. My fiction muse is stuck on horror.
I have started to write and mail correspondence daily. The International Correspondence Writing Month, #InCoWriMo, challenge involves people from around the world who send each other mail. It is much more fun that I thought it would be. Some old friends are sending mailing addresses, and I have collected some from the website. My most ambitious pen pal choice is a professional calligraphy artist in Florence, Italy. My handwriting is not that great, but I own an amazing collection of cards and stationary from around the world to send. I am using colored markers, and may start to do little drawings or write poems to the people I have never met. I am enjoying the process and think it is a good way to prime the creativity pump.
If you want to prime your creativity pump, or read some interesting writing, visit Diana’s blog on the weekend. Read, comment, or submit your own post here.
#WeekendCoffeeShare
Tucson Village Farm Harvest Festival
November 15, 2015
— 1 Comment
Today we enjoyed the beautiful weather for family fun at the Tucson Village Farm Harvest Festival. This wonderful working and teaching farm regularly hosts kids on field trips and in special camps. Kids as young as toddlers come with parents to learn about gardening through educational programs designed for them. Food to eat from the site is always included and is often a hands on part of the kids’ experience. I have been to the garden when kids were in a class. The reaction of the students was unanimously delighted. The environment is perfectly created to make the educational impact young students need to improve diets and maybe even the health practices of the entire family. Today many families came out to be part of the festivities which were delightfully focused on farming fun.
University of Arizona students on the farm staff were on hand today selling produce, directing traffic, and being helpful and informative. They were clearly enjoying this day of celebration with the public. The ratio of very young children to adults was high, and the youngsters were all having a real blast. Special activities such as popcorn shucking were ongoing during the day to give families a chance to do some farming/playing with the kids. I believe the farm always does a good job of fulfilling the important educational mission they undertake. This party went above and beyond the everyday excellence. Staff and volunteers did an excellent job of planning and executing a wonderful public event.
entrance
pomegranate
queen’s wreath
teaching garden
rose with bee
student volunteer
garden
student volunteers
student farmers
garden
student farmer
popcorn
garden activities
April is Poetry Month
April 3, 2014
— 3 Comments
April is for poets, and we are all poets. There are many ways to celebrate. I have taken the challenge to write a poem each day in April. My approach is zen. The weekend workshop on ekphrastic poetry helped me find a place to begin. By responding to art, the ekphrastic poet reflects, or echoes the artist by interpreting the artwork. Memorizing a poem is another way to participate in the fun this month. My father could recite almost all of the Cremation of Sam McGee by Robert W Service, which was always impressive. Stories told in rhyme stay in the mind’s eye.
Poets.org has a poetry party happening right now. You can make a commonbook with quotes and poems using resources on the site. If you are lucky enough to live in Tucson you can visit our Poetry Center to experience space completely dedicated to poetry. Docents there are happy to give tours of the rare books and more if you call for an appointment. Today in Tucson the 31st annual Poetry Festival invites the public for free readings and activities all weekend. Fluency and artistry enhance the lives of those who listen. Tune in this month to hear what you may have been missing.
mermaidcamp 