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Tag: Rogue River

JULY, A MONTH OF REUNIONS

Last month, I mentioned Vivian Gornick’s craft book, The Situation and the Story, and this month my focus on craft continued with my return to the Rainier Writing Workshop (RWW), the low-res MFA program I graduated from in 2021. During the ten-day residency, I attended three grad presentations, six classes, and eight morning talks on subjects ranging from Lavish Syntax by Rick Barot to The Vulnerability of Bliss by Scott Nadelson. RWW also celebrated the program’s twenty-year anniversary with a reading from the newly-released RWW anthology, The Next Draft: Inspiring Craft Talks from the Rainier Writing Workshop, edited by Brenda Miller. With this book, you too can experience the nirvana that is RWW’s morning talks! Available from the publisher, Bellingham’s independent bookstore Village Books, and Amazon.

This month I also returned to Indian Mary Campground on the Rogue River in Oregon where my extended maternal family has gathered for over forty years. About a hundred people camped, river rafted, and played a variety of card games and lots of corn hole, competed in a disc golf tournament, played bingo, and participated in a sing-along. I’m grateful to have a loving family I enjoy spending time with, especially outdoors!

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REMEMBER YOUR TRAINING

When, not if, you get tossed out of your boat in a rapid on a river, don’t panic. Hang onto the boat if you can, and with or without the boat, assume the floating lounge chair position: feet up, knees bent, and head back. Ride out the rapid and then, in calmer water, make your way over to the river’s edge.

I know this advice—my extended family has been rafting the Rogue River in inflatable kayaks for almost forty years. I email this advice as a safety reminder every two years in July right before the family gathers at Indian Mary Campground in Southern Oregon for seven days of game-playing, socializing, and floating down the river. I don’t know whether anyone reads my email but my be-prepared mentality compels me to send it.

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