Know Thyself - New England Writers I

June 10-11, 2000

 

Participants: Damian Cunniff, George Kaden, Leigh Neithardt, Heather McConnell, Brett Mole, David Seitel, Jon Reisman, Leslie Van Gelder

 

On this summer weekend we went in search of the spirit of Thoreau by visiting Concord and Walden Pond and then following his advice that we march to the beats of our own drummers, we took a creative approach to camping.

Our drive to New England was filled with humor and adventure. At Walden we swam, observed guard ducks, contemplated how HD would feel about the sunbathing, and eventually found our way to the stones which marked the edges of his cabin walls. There we read lines from Walden and talked about whether the author makes the place, or the place makes the author. On our way out of the woods, we visited the model cabin, and accosted the Thoreau statue (hey, he looked good in sunglasses!).

Towards evening we drove south towards Horseneck Beach State Park. We stopped to watch the sunset and that inadvertently turned into the &q&qt;keys in the trunk" incident - A wonderful example of creative problem solving! We missed our chance at a campsite and after a little creativ begging, secured a whole stretch of stolen beach to ourselves. Midnight dinner of ham sandwiches made with a fine layer of sand where we were protected by our own superhero - lord chowderfoot (who was avoiding his enemy lobster bisque) and then a night sleeping out under the stars. We are a very entertaining group when we haven't eaten or slept!

In the morning, scratching our mosquito bites, we sat on the beach taking the Meyers-Briggs and Chinese Elements personality tests. Everyone enjoyed discovering a little more language to explain their own ways of being. After knowing who we were, we knew we were all hungry and went to Ellie's for big breakfasts.

Later, heading home, we stopped in Rhode Island to talk about wilderness and to have some quiet time to write, fight off blackflies, or nap beneath the spruce trees. It was a fitting ending to a wonderful weekend where we got to know ourselves, each other, and that we should avoid waiting until midnight to eat!

 

Our Situques

	JR			DS
HM				LN
DC				GK
	BM			LVG