Sunday Coffee Share

A Cup of Coffee and a Conversation

My Darkest Side of the Moon coffee on the Art Institute Member Terrace!

If we were having coffee, I would tell you…this past week I was in Fort Frances, Ontario. It was a glorious solo retreat for me with lots of walking and writing!

If we were having coffee, I would tell you…it’s Sunday! Chris and I are in Ely, MN this morning and are heading home. I picked him up from the put-in point, and we had lovely fish tacos and drinks at the Cantilever. Then, we headed to Ely to return the canoe and stay. We have a long day of driving ahead. He had an amazing trip and is already planning next year’s trip!

If we were having coffee, I would tell you…the weather in Canada has been divine. Also, the walking has been divine. The ability to walk to the library and restaurants and everything else I needed was such a gift! The library in Ft Frances helped me wrestle with some ideas and then I went back to the room and wrote for a long while.

If we were having coffee, I would ask you…What did you read in high school?

What were you REQUIRED to read in high school?

The answer to these questions is likely not the same. I was on a rotation in my HS and had to read Red Badge of Courage (which I hated and still haunts me), Tale of Two Cities, Death of A Salesman, and others. I didn't have to read To Kill a Mockingbird and read that one summer when I posed a challenge to myself to read books from other hs's reading lists. I also read Farhenheit 451and The Catcher in the Rye later.

I remember when we were told there were books we were supposed to read over the summer before a grade. Does anyone still do this? A couple of summers ago my former stepdaughter had to read Gaiman's Norse mythology.

In 9th grade, I remember reading Anne Rice and wondering why Mr Ochoa was such a boring teacher. That was the same class one of the jocks fell asleep and was dreaming he was skiing...making the motions. He woke up to us all staring at him!

I was listening to a podcast on one of my many walks this week and it was suggested that The Art of Gathering by Priya Parker should be required reading for students. I don't think I disagree. I also think Better Conversations by Jim Knight and a finance book by Tony Robbins would be a good idea too. Also something about Swedish Death Cleaning.

What do you think should be required reading for people (no matter what their age really) and why?

I would love to know!

If we were having coffee, I would tell you…this was a hard week of transition for me, and I slept a lot. More than usual and I napped.

If we were having coffee, I would tell you…I am teaching the next round of the Bradbury Trio in August. You can find the information here:

The Book of Alchemy conversation and writing session will be the Full Moon writing and will be on July 10th at 5pm Central/6pm ET. You can sign up here.

Here are photos from this week:

I wish you a good week!! What are you obsessed with right now? I would love to know.

A little more about me: Tammy L. Evans is a writer, teacher, and runner living in a tiny house on a peninsula with her husband and adventure cat. Her location device is her loud laugh. She is a reader for Reckon Review. She is the creator and host of the THE BRADBURY TRIO COURSE. Her poetry has been published in The Storyteller, FoxGlove Journal, Story Hall, Blue Insights, The Partnered Pen, and others. Her fiction has been published in Gone Lawn, South Florida Poetry Journal, Cabinets of Heed, Spelk, Five on the Fifth, Clover and White, Fiction Berlin Kitchen, and others.