And tweet at #slice2013
I flew to
Indiana last week to attend the All-Write
conference. People who asked where I
was from were surprised that I had come all the way from Colorado. How could I not do this? And I was excited to go. It was, it was (I have to find the right
word!) comfortable. Have you
bought a chair or sofa lately? How many
pairs of shoes do you try on before selecting the one pair that feels like it’s
already been a favorite for a while? Have you gone to dinner with friends, and
begun the talking before you’ve even been seated? Have you created an old and favorite
recipe? Do you ever re-read favorite
books, or keep poems that feel so right? A few weeks ago, I spent a day with a
long-time friend who lives far away. We
are fortunate if we get to see one another once a year, and sometimes it’s more
like five years. Yet when we are
together, we fall into our own old friend
language, that one that takes years to understand, the perfect ‘ear’ for each
other.
I hope now you realize what I feel about the All-Write Conference where everyone was simply—and wonderfully—comfortable. I was welcomed with hugs from the
minute I pulled my luggage up to the check-in counter at the Wyndham Hotel. Here they all were: Ruth, Mary Helen, Betsy, Christy, Ramona,
Elsie, Deb Gaby, Robin, Nancy, Bonnie.
How can those I’ve known for such a short while feel comfortable? Because of our words over these past
years, the words we’ve shared through our blog posts and through twitter
(although I don’t do as much tweeting as I’d like). And later, at dinner, there were more I knew (see
Ruth Ayres’ post about the dinner here.) Also, in the sessions, it seemed like old friends, again from posts and books and articles-words I valued, words I believed in. Will you imagine what sharing words within a classroom can mean to that community?