May is a month of commencement speeches and graduation parties and time to reflect on how far you have come since your own such celebrations. Still, there is nothing like physically returning to your alma mater where you studied ad infinitum through the night, prayed the printer worked 15 minutes before class, made best friends by lucky circumstance and earned every drop of ink on your diploma. For me, last weekend’s fortuitous return to Middlebury College’s Bread Loaf School of English recreated powerful emotions and rich memories from my four remarkable summers earning a master’s degree in English there.
Rescue
Last Saturday, after a leisurely morning allowed for a colossal cup of tea along side a well-plated brunch, with a phone call first from my mother and then my daughter, I took to town with a list of errands. Today was the day to do what I never get to, like swinging by the jeweler’s to have my diamond cleaned and inspected, or sifting through the writer magazines at Barnes & Nobles to make notes on upcoming contests and submission deadlines. You know the kinds of things you do when life seems to be riding a straight line. But driving between Healthy Living and the next on my list I had a NPR moment… when your errands are put on hold or cancelled all together because you are captive in your car, essentially trapped by story.
The 100th post: Love
Seems like a lifetime ago when Nine Cent Girl was born… The fiery hues of autumn had just subsided into a monochromatic black and white across my Vermont landscape, fickle sunlight and arctic air drove me indoors; it was during this introspective time of the seasonal circle that my blog became a trusty beacon, illuminating my direction through what dark days lay ahead as well as brightening the unforeseen surprises dropped along my path.
Nine Cent Girl 