Scribblers meet at Presbyterian Church

After being interviewed by Southeast Iowa Union reporter Michelle Hillestad, the seven Scribblers in attendance the afternoon of February 28th, at Mt. Pleasant First Presbyterian Church, carried on lively conversation about their own initiation into the group and some functional group changes since that time.

While many of the group have had work accepted in various publications, other than the Scribblers Anthology, it isn’t a requirement as it once was. A short business meeting was held before individuals shared their writings.

Karen Osborne led the readings with “How I Get My Ideas”. She once developed a “knighthood” program for middle school students after being interested in and studying the steps to knighthood. She might be inspired by visual experiences to write a poem. Memoir pieces are her main genre in writing; conversations, childhood memories from her life in Queens, NY, relationships, and often her “wee hour wool gathering” bring her the best ideas that must be written down!

Marilyn Vincent focused on “the importance of play for all creatures”. While one of her dogs was happy to retrieve and return a ball, others had various responses to a thrown ball, e.g.one enjoyed putting it between himself and the owner, but grabbing it and running if the owner reached for it! Marilyn also shared a stunning sunset photo with the group. Although not strictly play, the beauty in such scenery is pleasing to the eye and soul in much the same way that play enhances one’s life.

“A Cautionary Tale”, read by Martha Wiley, detailed frustrating experiences dealing with her, her husband’s and daughter’s getaway to visit her son in FL. Almost nothing went exactly as planned, but looking back, she could appreciate the humor, and applaud their ability to be flexible and survive the challenges, and even appreciate some delightful benefits of those unplanned challenges.

Claudia Streeter decided to revise her obituary. She began with reminding us of her birthday, coinciding with Shakespeare’s, which she attributes to encouraging her love for writing as well as reading. While the body of her proposed obituary was entertaining, she brought on many chuckles with a humorous finish by offering ten options as to her projected “cause of death”. It was agreed that none of the group wants to read of her demise in the near future, certainly not before another revision will need to be written!

Rita Davis shared experiences with traumatic brain injuries- the most severe from an auto accident nineteen years ago. Many millions of TBIs occur every year, with only a relative few seen in the Emergency Room. While vehicular accidents, sports and military injuries contribute to this number, whip lashes, falls and recreational or incidental bumps and jars of the head can also result in prolonged headaches, sleep disturbances, cognition and memory challenges (including familiar words), and imbalance, among other issues, varying individually according to force and area of trauma.

“What’s in a Word”, contributed by Ann Porter, pointed out the changes in understanding a word that might differ from individual to individual because of understood context. An example given was “freedom” which potentially could mean far different things to an immigrant, a prisoner, a teenager, an abused person, a soldier, etc. The abundance of homonyms also adds confusion, particularly among those with whom English is a second language. Additionally, Ann shared challenges among those with dementia, which also has several types on a spectrum of severity.

Kathy Wiley closed the meeting with an original beautiful haiku in response to Suzi Morrison’s painting of a rose entitled “Abiding Peace”, which she showed the group from a phone photo. The poem will be displayed with the painting, and other exhibits at the Mt. Pleasant Art Center this month.

The next meeting is planned for Monday, March 21, 1-3 p.m. at the First Presbyterian Church of Mt. Pleasant. They welcome interested individuals. Questions can be directed to Karen Osborne (319-367-5586).