This past weekend was a busy one. There was an abundance of activity happening at our house, and across the river, in the ole’ hometown.
Friday night was the Moxie Recipe Contest. My sister again choreographed a cook-off that had moxie, with dishes enhanced with Moxie, the distinctly different soft drink that’s followed with cult-like fervor here in New England. If you missed it, you can read one of the more unique articles about the evening written by Mark LaFlamme, intrepid Sun-Journal reporter.
Giving instructions to the Moxie Recipe Contest jury.
Saturday, Miss Mary swam Peaks to Portland (P2P), a 2.4 mile open swim from the Peaks Island to East End Beach. Mark (here for the weekend) and I were there to cheer our swimmer on. So was her niece (and Mark’s cousin), Joann Bisson. As a side note, Joann ran Sunday’s Shipyard Old Port Half Marathon on Sunday. Way to go, Joann!!
Mary and friend, Donna, after P2P.
Mary’s time in 2014 was more than 7 minutes better than in 2012, when she swam it for the first time.
There was a P2P after-party in Falmouth, hosted by the mom of a junior high friend and swim team pal of Mary’s, as well as another amazing P2P swimmer. Then, back home and time to prepare for the RiverVision Press book launch of The Perfect Number: Essays & Stories Vol. I.
The launch, hosted by my sister at her new home in Lisbon Falls, at the end of a hectic Moxie Fest parade Saturday, was attended by close to 40 people. It was great to see such a nice mix of old and new friends, and some former school chums, a former writing student, and family members.
Launching another book.
I write about my hometown and touch on Thomas Wolfe’s classic novel You Can’t Go Home Again, (in my essay, “Goin’ Back) in the new book. It’s true that you can never go back to that specific place in time, but, I discovered this weekend with the book party and Moxie Festival, you can go back to a geographic place and if you work at it, people will welcome you and receive you with their blessings.
Sunday, I was on another ball field, a common setting for a good portion of my life. I got to ump a district Babe Ruth level playoff game, with the winning team, Portland, advancing to the Babe Ruth state playoffs. I also got to do the game with 36-year umpiring veteran, Phil Wysowski, one of Maine’s best amateur umpires.
This week, a couple will be celebrating 32 years of wedded bliss. I’m anxious to see what next weekend brings them.
Congratulations, Jim! You were such an inspiration as a writing teacher when I took your class. I’ve continued to write, but I’m still a long way from getting a book published. I’m impressed that with all the other things you have going that you managed to get a new book out. I look forward to reading it. Best of luck!
Thanks, Trudy! I’m really glad to hear that you are still writing–that’s the key. Books develop when we write regularly. “The Perfect Number” was a result of writing essays and eventually, having enough that I could choose some that fit together. When I had five of these, I realized there were two more I had to write, which I did over the fall and early spring. I then had the seven I wanted and then, it was time to go into production mode, get them edited, find someone to do layout and design, etc.
It’s rewarding to now have four books. Looking back, I wasn’t sure I’d make it to one!
To writing!