Newsletter Five; December 27, 2021

 This month’s newsletter, after a long hiatus, focuses on essays by Kathleen Meadows, “Pictures in the Sky,” and “Summer of 1972,” by Susan Light.
 
Kathleen brings us to the three-acre farm in the lower San Joaquin Valley in California to the alfalfa fields and its pungent aroma and the changing colors of the sky. We see her move from those fields to the suburbs to UC Berkeley and to a life of teaching and motherhood.  Throughout her childhood, her teen years, and her years as a mother, a single mother, and a teacher, the writing spirit and as she describes, “the raw poetry of sight and sound, the music of words, that wouldn’t let go.” She returns to those words and to those visions over and over again.

Susan Light, in her essay, “Summer of 1972”, describes the hurdles and challenges she faced when hoping to pursue her interest in science and medicine.  A summer program in Conn. becomes her way out of a narrow environment to one that will show her “It is OK to be a girl and like science.”  Yet, there were many more obstacles she would encounter until eventually getting into medical school and becoming a medical doctor.

Both essays illuminate how the women learned to listen to themselves and their inner spirits to pursue what was important to them no matter what.

I want to wish you all a happy new year as we move into 2022 and a year of improved health, of expanding our ability to move around, and to pursue our creative interests. The anthology, “The Lemon Tree,” is in its final stages before publication and includes essays by many of us, as well as art that graces the pages and brings to life so much color and image. This newsletter is what inspired me as the editor to reach out to so many talented women who throughout their lives have pursued their deepest desires, visions, interests, and given it life on the written page or on the artistic page. You will all receive the notice of the publication of a beautiful, important book!
 
Blessings to all, and a Happy New Year!
Nitza