Retreat!

In early June, I attended the annual retreat at the Langwood Educational Center a couple miles east of Grandview, IA. It’s a place where writers and artists of various kinds gather to discuss their crafts.

This year saw a seminar on no line poetry, one line poetry, and two line poetry, along with trilets and triplet type poetry. You think a poem can’t have any lines? You mean to say a poem can be just a title that says it all? Hmm…

Other seminars included watercolors, discussions about story plots, critique groups, short stories, how to use sensory information in stories, and an intro yoga class where participants sat in chairs to do the stretches.

Around a dozen or so attended with some coming for a seminar, then departing.

The weekend started on Friday afternoon and lasted until Sunday afternoon. Those who didn’t stay in motels could stay in the A-frame where cots were provided. A couple brought tents.

While the weekend was fun and informative, we did have to contend with 90+ temps throughout the days. Yes, the main shelter house was air conditioned, but the sleeping quarters weren’t. The nights cooled down enough that my small fan inside the tent kept me comfortable. And I was up for morning runs at 5:30. Yes, I sweat, but I felt good afterward.

People enjoyed the fire ring, s’mores, good food and conversation. I had to depart by noon to be able to do my normal Sunday activities before I went to play volleyball. Unfortunately, I had missed the email stating there wouldn’t be games because of Father’s Day. So, I could have stayed at the camp longer. The good thing was the facilitator emailed a copy of the information for the seminar I missed.

There will be another retreat in October, but this one will be more of a true retreat. People show up, congregate for meals, but for the most part, find their own space and work on their own material. Editing stories, creating new poems. Some just sit by the fire, relax, and do nothing. There are no seminars and no schedule. Last year, I was able to finish editing one of my Mallory Petersen stories. This year, I want to edit another in the series.

There was talk of moving the weekend for the spring retreat to earlier, but for now, it’s scheduled for June of ’19.