An Eclectic Workshop

This is the time of year when educators, writers, artists offer and advertise summer courses in far off places. The Nation offers its annual seminar cruise—seven nights. Participants travel to Puerto Rico, Bahamas, St. Thomas ... while fourteen guest speakers offer lectures on diverse topics. Yes, there's time to sightsee, buy trinkets and sample the local fare.

I always wanted to go to the Southwest—hike canyons and write. There are several trips that include rafting, canyon hikes, and poetry writing. We had been to the Southwest a number of times and while I did write, sketch, take photos—I never did get around to taking a workshop.

While I did go to upstate New York for summer writing workshops I never flew off to some exotic place to
study.

The best summer workshop experience happened by chance. I had frequented a coffee house in Harvard Square fairly often and one summer I went down several times a week —and wrote about what I saw, overheard, and imagined.

I filled several notebooks:
—who was the chess master who set up his board every day and for several dollars you could challenge him—and usually lose?
—who were those people who sat in front of the Coop and held signs asking for money?

I listened to a variety of languages—watched a man on a unicycle, listened in on a conversation about quantum physics—all over one cup of iced decaf a day.

That summer I learned more about writing and paying attention to details. And the entire summer was relatively inexpensive—save for two parking tickets.