September 19, 2010

Eden Mills 2010

The story I’ve already told twice today is about how last year we went to see the Fringe show at the Eden Mills Writers’ Festival, and how at the end of the set, I said, “I want to do that next year.” I also remarked, upon strapping our four month old baby back into her stroller, that I should also probably get around to cleaning the spit-up off her seat cushion, and I’m pleased to report now that I’ve accomplished 50% of my goals.

This afternoon I had the great pleasure of reading my story “You Can’t Run a Show on Stage Management Alone” to a crowd on a hillside that was far more crowded than I’d expected, and not just with my friends either (although they were there, of course, because they’re wonderful). I so appreciated my fellow readers, the Fringe organizers for such a fantastic initiative, the attentive audience with their very warm response, and also Stuart who kept Harriet from rolling down the hill and into the stream, and snapped photos with his free hand.

We had a wonderful day. The weather was perfect, except for about five minutes when it was a little bit cold. I got to hear my friend Patricia read AND to watch the kids in the audience respond so enthuasiastically to her presentation. Things went a little awry after this, as Stuart and I became obsessed with Harriet taking an afternoon nap, but she wasn’t having any of it. Not sure why we were so concerned– Harriet was happy enough and didn’t want to miss a moment of Eden Mills. We did manage to hear Carol Off read, and Karen Connelly in the final set. We bought organic ice cream, which was delicious. I visted The New Quarterly and Biblioasis, and bought Alexander McLeod’s [GILLER-LISTED!] short story collection Light Lifting. I also bought Marthe Jocelyn’s Eats for Harriet, who thought the book’s conclusion was totally perfect. Later I also Coach House and Toronto Poetry Vendors and gave them scones. I bought a Poetry Fortune Teller, which was a creation of Dani Couture.

We left the festival very happy, and disappointed only that the kids selling baking at the end of the road had run of snickerdoodles. Too late for that, but we were full of scones and ice cream, and Stuart and I got in the exact same fight we’d had last year when we drove past a pumpkin patch and I was insistent that we pull over and photograph the baby amongst the squashes, and in the end, once again, I was right, because the pictures are totally adorable.