What's Next?

Any time I go to Erie I do everything I can to get a day at Presque Isle. Sometimes I just have to "misappear" to get away, but friends and family understand that I am drawn to Lake Erie like seagulls to potato chips! On my last Saturday in Erie, I did a "memory" thing: I had coffee with my sister-in-law and her husband. Herbie and I used to love doing that, so I tried to relive it, and I enjoyed visiting in the old way (but missed Herbie). When I left them, I headed to Presque Isle for a walk, some photos, and a Lake Erie tour on the Lady Kate , Denny Macaluso's tour boat. Like morning coffee, it wasn't quite what I remembered. I arrived at the Lady Kate landing at one p.m., just in time to hear its engines roar off for the one p.m. tour. I hollered for it to wait, but it didn't. The cute little high school girl that was selling tickets explained that I would have to wait until the three o'clock tour, and she informed me that because it was wind...

I really enjoyed my month-long vacation, but I've learned one thing. Writing and vacationing do not go well together. Writing is solitary, vacationing involves other people, and I know this. I keep thinking vacations should be for writing, but for me, that doesn't work. So now I am at home sitting at the computer, fending off Bella the cat, who thinks she should be on my lap at all times ( how could you leave me for so long? she meowed ) and thinking about all the good feelings and questions I've had over the last month. My first task was to read my previous post about Chautauqua. I was really high on the place the first few days, wasn't I? But in retrospect, I am thinking differently about the experience. Chautauqua is definitely a place trying to move forward, but still falling behind. Let me explain. Of the thousands of people at Chautauqua Institution (CI) during Week One--and that's five or six thousand, maybe more--I saw one or two Middle Eastern faces, ...