The Thinking Woman - Words From Out Of The Blue

        Ch-ch-ch-ch-changes       Turn and face the strange Some things in life just come to a close. It can’t be helped and nothing can be done. But there is a saying that, when the old car leaves the garage, there is finally space for a new one. In my life that has been true but I’ve also discovered that the trick is, to not just face the strange, but embrace it. My entire MFA in Creative Non-Fiction at Baypath has been an exercise in embracing the strange. The classes are challenging and instructors, experienced. What is strange is what has flowed from my fingers to the page in the last two years. I started with Nature Writing because that’s what I love to do and the instructor, Sister Karol Jackowski, is a spiritual woman in the deepest of ways. She set the tone for writing anything, and was the first person who actively encouraged me to embrace the strange. “If it’s real to you, then it is real and considered non-fiction,” she coached when I asked if writing about my experie

“Kip, the bird feeders are empty,” I scolded. Kip, my best friend,  pulled off his glasses and rubbed his eyes. “I guess I forgot,” he yawned. He was perched in his pj’s and fleece jacket on a small wooden kitchen chair pulled close to the woodstove because it was warmest there, and the dogs had all the couch space. It is our routine to fill the birdfeeders in the evening, just after feeding the dogs, and last night, it was Kip’s turn. “You can’t forget the birds,’ I nagged. “We are their Universe, and if we forget them, The Universe will forget us,” I added without any love or light in my voice. Birds are kind of a big deal to me. They are my constant companions. Blue jays peck at the windowsills, crows noisily raise their kids in the pine trees behind the house, and thunderbirds show up in my dreams. None of them have any respect for peace and quiet, but all contribute to my peace of mind. “Yep, I’ll fill them soon,” Kip assured me as he took a sip of coffee. Kip is used to