Sunday Coffee Share
A Cup of Coffee and a Conversation
If we were having coffee I would tell you…today, of course, is breakfast day! It is cold and the temperature keeps dropping. Right now as the sun is coming up it is 11 degrees Fahrenheit with a real feel of -5. There is a cold weather advisory which always makes me laugh. It is winter after all. Isn’t cold weather to be expected?
If we were having coffee, I would tell you… Chris and I went to the Art Institute of Chicago on Friday and had a marvelous time. We hopped on the train and went into the city. It is a short walk to the museum from the station. The member only hour was quiet and then people started flooding in. I am glad there are so many that want to come and appreciate the art but I am unnerved by the lack of decorum in the galleries. People were shouting across the rooms, expressing their opinions loudly, and speaking at a volume that is not what I consider appropriate for a museum. There is a lot of loudness many places now. The library is not a quiet place and I am surprised when people are having loud conversations in person and on the phone when I am there. Is whispering not a thing anymore?
Chris and I had a lovely lunch in the Cafe in the basement of the museum. We picked up pizza on the way home.
During my writing time before we left the house, I set the intention to watch the strangers in the gallery. I noted many interesting outfits and people.
If we were having coffee, I would tell you… Soup Sunday today is vegetable. I did a food experiment yesterday and made naan. It turned out well but I want to play with the ingredients a bit and the pan. The bread did not turn out as fluffy as I wanted but overall it was delicious and a success.
If we were having coffee I would tell you…this is one picture from each day from the last week!
If we were having coffee I would recommend:
Spiritual Directions for Writers
If we were having coffee, I would tell you…the mini Bradbury Trio challenge is underway for all subscribers. A separate post is published with a poem, a story, an essay, and a prompt. I hope sharing these will add to your writing and reading life this week! If you missed this week’s readings and prompt you can find it here.
If we were having coffee I am excited to tell you…I continue to write 100 words for Margot every day. The Stafford Challenge is underway as it began on Friday. The past week was full of writing related things. I attended a workshop on Bullet Journaling which was a refresh for me. I attended my weekly check-in. I hosted the Full Moon Writing Gathering which was super fun. Many interesting snippets came out of the exercises. You can find the prompts I used here. The next full moon is on Feb 12th. It is the Snow Moon! I also reconnected with a writer friend whom I had not spoken to for at least 4 years. It was a good week.
If we were having coffee I am excited to tell you… a new round of the Bradbury Trio Course will begin February 16, 2025. There are limited spots for this course and it is filling up.
The course will run 4 weeks on the platform WetInk. There will be two themed reading weeks and two writing weeks. Participants will write and share two pieces and give feedback to two other writers.
You are welcome to write whatever form and genre speak to you! The prompts are open enough to accommodate everyone.
I invite you to read more about it here:
You're Invited to a Gathering at the Table
The Bradbury Trio Course begins February 16th, 2025 and I would love for you to join us!
If we were having coffee, I ask you…what shall you do next?
If we were having coffee, I would tell you…Lunar New Year 2025 falls on Wednesday, January 29th, and celebrations culminate with the Lantern Festival on February 12th. It is the Year of the Snake. I learned about the Lunar New Year and the lantern festival in college and have been fascinated by it ever since. Chris and I were both born in years of the Tiger which has always been intriguing to me.
I wish you a Happy Sunday full of delights!
A little more about me: Tammy L. Evans is a writer, teacher, runner, and coach 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.
Dear friend, I love these virtual conversations you send out. Your observations at the Art Institute make me think of how different the culture is in public spaces here in Spain, especially in our city where the tourist population in winter is minimal. I tend to shy away from judging some cultural practices and ways of being over others, but I wonder about the collective drift to less kindness and consideration in the current era... No answers, just more hmmm... moments.
I may have told you my dad studied at the Art Institute of Chicago and my sister and I visited Chicago to celebrate her 70th birthday five years ago. The staff was so generous and eager to show us pictures of what the Institute looked like back then. I don't remember it being noisy, but I "DO" remember the food! Oh my.
P.S. I can't believe I missed the goldmine that is The Bradbury Trio. I look forward to your course. I'm off to skate my way to the mailbox. Brrrrrrrr.