freethoughtandmetaphor

I’ve been off at a writers’ conference, without my laptop, and so not blogging.  My “re-entry” has been slow this week; I seem to be way off schedule.

Yesterday I baked bread and also spent time reviewing my recent poems to see what is ready to send out, what might go with what, what needs more work.  Only afterward was I reminded that it was Lammas Day, the cross-quarter day between the summer solstice and the fall equinox.  Lammas celebrates the first harvest; baking bread acknowledges the harvest.  A cross-quarter day is a time for checking on the progress of one’s goals and intentions.

Without being conscious of what I was doing, I was getting back on track with the calendar.

Stevenson Trail

I’ve been at the Napa Valley Writers’ Conference.  I stayed in Calistoga.  On one break I went for a hike in the Robert L. Stevenson State Park.  The drive up twisty Route 29 reminded me of trips along the California coast in my childhood.

Looking Down the Canyon

I found a nice trail up to a monument, which marks the spot where Stevenson and his wife stayed in 1880.  There’s nothing left of the structure or any evidence of their having been there except a monument which was set up in 1911.

Stevenson Memorial

There’s plenty of attention to Stevenson in the local museums as well, a curious situation considering that he only stayed in the area for a few weeks.  His writings must have been good publicity for the mineral springs of Calistoga.