Walkin' with Joaquin

The day of my first workshop was the day the rain began. It was either cancel the workshop or rent the Ranger Station, and I decided to go for it. I've been waiting a decade to do this; why let a little deluge stop me? Only one family actually made it, but they really got the project off to a great start. We sang the song, then Gabe, Nico, and their dad Jeff picked up pencils, markers, crayons and paintbrushes and got inspired. The part of the song that spoke to us the most was the last stanza: Well, the rain poured on Joaquin. The water drizzled down all over Oakland... It was amazing to see how each of these twin brothers approached art. One confidently freehanded the stuffed barn owl in the display case. (Hoot hoot!) The other was explorative and expressionistic, his sketches conveying the dizzy feeling of looking at a tall tree, his hands dancing with the energy of raindrops. Their grandfather was an art professor, and I think he would be proud.  The dad made a beautiful sketch...

I had hoped to work in the Ranger Station today, a run-through for the first workshop on Sunday, which is forecast (at last!) with plenty of rain. The doors were locked, why? For renovations or deep cleaning or budget cuts? I got to meet the Park Supervisor, Gregory Tarver Ph.D. A large man with a mask and a vest, he apologized and said there were safety issues. Frustrated but understanding—could be the virus, could be dry rot, they both are relentless—I  cautiously headed down to the Meadow with my art bag, where I found one dry picnic table. There weren't as many kids in the park as there were last time I was here. It's been cold and it rained last night. It was supposed to be raining today and the skies were grey, but the clouds were high. I took my chances and cracked opened my enormous sketchbook, the one that will hold our story. I needed to transpose the "shout-out" sections of my songs into something more portable. The old posters were moldy from being in my b...

Oakland's selection of a poet laureate seemed a momentous event to the  California Writers Club, since the state's first poet laureate was so influential in bringing our club into existence. I was honored to preside over an event last Saturday in honor of Dr. Ayodele "Wordslanger" Nzinga, in the Fire Circle built by Joaquin Miller's daughter Juanita. This was the day I formally announced my Song Project at the Friends of Joaquin Miller Park annual meeting.  I told my sad tale about losing a Cultural Fund grant as a way to talk about the great poet's complicated life, cleverly weaving in lines from my simple song about trees and possums and poppies and water. To an intimate audience among the cypress trees, I talked about who Joaquin Miller really was, and we heard the words of by his friends read by my friends—each of whom came to know one another. To hear the chimes of the living voices ringing in the woods, bringing past voices to life again, brought us all...

I'm excited to start drawing with kids! Today I purchased supplies for the Joaquin Miller Art, Nature & Song project. These pristine notebooks will be filled with sketches and paintings by Oakland's kids. Together, we'll build a book around a song! " Joaquin Miller Went Walkin'"  is about all the things the poet who planted all the trees in this park saw while he was hiking around, writing poetry. He saw trees, birds, animals, plants, and water...all the things that make up the ecosystem of the hills. I wrote it after taking a field trip with Bay Area Writing Project teacher Evan Nichols, who really got kids engaged. That day, I thought, "Who's Joaquin Miller and why isn't there a song about him?" The muses dropped this nugget into my brain the following week, and I sang it a lot that year! I'll be hosting monthly workshops for groups of six kids (ages 5-15) and adults. Why kids and adults? Because I want this to be an experience tha...

A busy day today promoting the upcoming  Song Project and I'm tired because I was up late listening to " This Changes Everything " by Naomi Klein. The chapter where all the billionaires eat Al Gore's presentation up with a spoon in 2005 and by 2015 have increased their company emissions a hundredfold!!! Ack! A crucial read. Meanwhile here's the best invention yet... Hug one today!

The park seems noisy today. Dogs bark and play on the trails and in the dog park beyond those trees. Snippets of conversation float above the roar of freeway and air traffic, an ocean of sound underneath the forest's daily goings-on. Dogs are called with clickers, shouts, and whistles worthy of the piccolo line. A chickadee rumble bursts out near me, four little birds attacking each viciously, emitting the most adorable flurry of angry peeps. A lone crow's got something to talk about. A maintenance truck crunches down the road. And that's all outside my head...the inside is full of poetry! This weekend I attended the Gatsby Summer Afternoon, a historic recreation of the Jazz Age (a term coined by F. Scott Fitzgerald, did you know?), where I co-hosted a literary circle where we did readings from The Great Gatsby and poets of the era .  While I was researching "Art Deco Lit: a collection of Modernist poets," the little anthology I put together for the Art Deco Socie...

I came to the park today with a head full of words, just looking for a place to work. The fist three picnic tables near the ranger center were occupied, so I kept moving until I found one on a little hill where I can watch people get into and out of their cars and talk to their dogs. It’s funny how people talk to their dogs. I wonder if, in a year, I could write at every single picnic table in the park? Today I’m very excited to announce my kick-off event with FOJMP and CWC next month. On October 9th, the former will be holding their annual meeting (OUR annual meeting; I’m part of this group) at noon on the steps. At 12:30, something very exciting happens: the water comes on! The restoration committee has managed to get the water flowing again! Here’s the flyer for that: After that event, we’ll all spread our blankets at the Fire Circle and enjoy “A Blanket and a Basket of Chow.” This catch phrase has been used by the CWC for decades, hearkening back to Joaquin Miller’s invitation to ...