Bob’s Scalloped Oysters, dinner at a writing retreat in Kansas City, Missouri, April 2009, photo © 2009 by QuoinMonkey. All rights reserved.
Last weekend I was in Kansas City, Missouri for a short writing retreat with three other Midwest writers. We did Writing Practice, slow walked, sat in silence, and recalibrated our project goals for the next 6 months. There were a couple of breakthroughs and much clarity. I met two of these writers at the last year-long Intensive we attended with Natalie in Taos. We try to meet every 6 months, check in on our goals every two weeks. No one should have to do this alone.
I also met ybonesy at a Taos writing retreat and we are still going strong. We created red Ravine because we didn’t want writers and artists to feel like they had to do this alone. We wanted a supportive place people could visit 24/7. We didn’t want to be tossed away. I feel grateful for the online community, and for close writing and artists friends, and try to cultivate those relationships. I encourage writers to connect any way they can.
It wasn’t all serious over last weekend though. We laughed a lot. And Bob gave us a whirlwind tour of beautiful Kansas City, Missouri. He called it “the nickel tour” but I think it was priceless. I loved the fountains, the art museums, the sycamores and the blooming redbuds. We stood by the Missouri River, drove past hundreds of limestone houses (including Hemingway’s), and ate 50 pounds of Kansas City barbecue. The Spring weather was perfect; everything was in bloom.
For dinner one night, Bob cooked Hamburger Splatter and baked his Aunt Annie’s Scalloped Oysters, made famous in his March post on red Ravine. If you love oysters, Aunt Annie’s are to die for! Gratitude to Bob for putting up with all of us in Kansas City (it’s a great place to write). Gratitude to ybonesy for holding down the fort on red Ravine. Gratitude to Liz for taking care of Chaco while I was gone. Look for more of Kansas City in upcoming posts.
Dish Up The Scalloped Oysters!, Aunt Annie’s Scalloped Oysters, Writers’ Feet, April writing retreat in Kansas City, Missouri, April 2009, photo © 2009 by QuoinMonkey. All rights reserved.
-posted on red Ravine, Tuesday, April 28th, 2009
I’m back in Minneapolis, but homesick for Kansas City and oyster dishes.
I’m also in enormous gratitude today, for the gift of like-minded people who are making their way as writers, too. Last time our Midwest Writer’s group met I was flying high. This time I wasn’t. It doesn’t matter. We show up. We show up for each other. One is strong when the other is weak. It’s all good.
One of Hemingway’s houses was a recent victim of a fire, and a few of us just couldn’t resist taking a brick. They’d just be going to the dump anyway, right?
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Teri, I told ybonesy I was really tired this morning. I forgot how tired it makes you to make great effort to write and connect with other writers.
I haven’t unpacked my suitcase yet to pull out the pieces of brick. But I told Liz about them. I wonder if that was why my suitcase was so heavy! I was so happy to see the Hemingway homes. And everything else about Kansas City. I feel like I know it now from being shown around by a native resident.
I don’t know if it comes across in this post, but I hope people know that ANYONE can do this. That people can go and take workshops, meet other writers, and look for those who seem like-minded or whom are willing to keep the practice going.
It takes a lot of work for all of us to make these mini-retreats happen. But we use the structure that Natalie taught us to keep things on track, show up, and do lots of Writing Practice. We don’t leave without setting new goals. They are such a good investment. And I hope others know that this possibility is open to them as writers — so they don’t have to do this alone.
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Thank you , QM, for honoring our weekend on Red Ravine – beautiful Kansas City, barbecue, scalloped oysters, hamburger splatter and most of all, the friendship between us. I am grateful for all of you and for those days spent in laughter and solidarity. Alone now, in my writing room, my writing goals seem a little daunting but do-able.
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and by the way, the photo of the scalloped oysters is gorgeous!
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Jude, my goals feel the same way this morning. I felt the doubts creeping in even as we were waiting to board the plane. And again this morning when I was tired and trying to get going on a new week. We set pretty lofty goals. But at the time, with all that support, they seemed totally doable. And I believe they are. I think the check-in’s help. And even actually setting goals, even if I don’t attain them all.
I posted two photos of the oyster dish. One was taken with the flash and the food looks a little more like the right color in that one. The other one I posted at the top because I liked the shadows and mellow rust browns. I’m not fond of oysters. But I’m glad the dish got snarfed up over a few days. Anyone who likes oysters will love it. Comfort food. I bet Aunt Annie was smiling down.
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What a wonderful picture of the scalloped oysters! They were all gone before the weekend was over. I ate some of the Hamburger Splatter, tabouleh, spinach & artichoke dip for lunch today and thought of how empty the house seemed without all the people in it.
These weekends are important to me and very supportive. The four of us getting together to write a la Goldberg helps me realize how much a part of me the process is. I miss not having friends here to practice with. While I write six, ten-minute writes every morning as part of my own grounding practice, it is not the same as writing with friends.
I walked past the stone man today on my way home from the returning the rental car. I will take a picture of him and send it to you all. QM, maybe you can post it on red Ravine.
This site holds so much for so many people, even people who are not writers. You and yb working together have created a truly special place that I hope continues in one form or another for years to come.
Glad you all made it home safely. I will be eating leftovers at least today and tomorrow (and longer if they don’t spoil while I am away in OK).
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Bob, thank you. I think you and Teri polished the oysters off before we left, didn’t you? I bet you had a lot of leftovers. I was tempted to drink the rest of the chocolate milk from the dairy but decided to leave that last little bit for you. I forgot to take a photo of the Hamburger Splatter. It was so good, too. What post did you mention that in?
Yes, please send a photo of the Stone Man. I’ll definitely post it if you send it. I would have missed it if Jude had not seen it. It was so refreshing to not be tied to electronics all weekend. I took a big break from phone, email, computer. It was like a breath of fresh air. I feel like I’ve gotten my goals in place for the next six months. But it’s hard to get going on them once I’m back home.
Bob, remind me again which writing event you are attending in Oklahoma? Something I liked best about last weekend was listening to others read their Writing Practices. I don’t know what it was this time, but I really enjoyed the deep listening.
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I leave tomorrow for the Oklahoma Writers’ Federation Inc. Conference in Norman, OK. It is a big deal among my fellow writers here in KC which is the main reason I submitted pieces for the writing contests they have and am spending dollars to attend the convention. About 20 people from the KC group are going. It should be fun. I will let you know if I win.
I can’t remember what post I mentioned hamburger splatter in. I wrote a piece on it for my writing class and they suggested I send it for publication. Who knows? Maybe the whole world will someday have Hamburger Splatter. I finished the last of it tonight for dinner.
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Good luck, Bob. It’s inspiring to see you pursue your dreams!
Also, got to love Velveeta for the way it creates the most amazing sheen on the Scalloped Oyster dish. 8) Spending time with you sounds like stepping back in time, food-wise. It sounds as though you weren’t at all lacking for dessert, after eating so well for main courses, but curious what you cooked for dessert if you did so. I’m picturing something with Jell-O (pudding or regular jello).
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Couldn’t help but notice the amazing and lovely salmon pink manicured toenails. I know who those belong to. 8)
QM, are the brown slip-on Ked’s yours?
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yb,
When I got my pedicure I was trying to mimic the color in your post, but it got a little more Barbie-doll pink than planned. I’ve had several 9-year-olds look at the color admiringly.
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Bob, we’ll be thinking about you at the Oklahoma Writers’ Federation Inc. Conference. Have fun with all those writers (and also on your trip that follows. Say Hi to C.).
ybonesy, the Velveeta sure does leave a sheen, doesn’t it? I thought the same thing when I looked at those photographs of it gleaming in the dining room table light. Actually, I did try it even though I don’t like oysters. And the browned Velveeta part you are talking about was one of the best parts. 8)
BTW, welcome home, ybonesy. Glad you’re back. Oh, for dessert we had a lot of chocolate and cookies. We went sugar crazy. I think someone also bought some sugar-free chocolate pudding. It wasn’t my favorite. I’ve weaned a little off the sugar since I’ve been back home.
Oh, and yes, those Ked’s are mine. They look brown in the light but are actually black. The way the photo was shot it was hard to get the right exposure with some feet in light, some in shadow. We were by the river near the end of the day. It was windy and the sun was glaring from the West.
Those slip-on Keds BTW are the most comfortable shoes. I love them. My Southern Dad (Liz calls him Sweet Lou) used to wear (and still does) slip-on Keds like that, usually white. He wore them when I was a kid. And when I went back down the last few summers, he was still wearing them. Maybe that’s where I get it. 8)
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My mom wears slip-on Keds all the time. In fact, I can hardly remember her wearing a sandal. In warm weather, she’s much more of a slip-on type of shoe person whereas I’m a barefoot person. I even wear sandals when I use the big shovel to dig. Jim tells me I need a sturdy shoe for digging, but I do it my way. 8)
Teri, ha. My girls would like your nail polish color. I like it.
Who did I recently notice wearing blue nailpolish? Maybe my sister? I think folks are breaking out this year with their toenails. Just a feeling I got. 8)
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We all LOVED Teri’s nail polish. It was one of the first things everyone noticed. It’s a real breakout color. I also loved Jude’s shoes with the leaves on them. Jude has some of the coolest shoes. Usually sandals though; she seems to like part of her feet to be out in the air. I noticed that about her when we were in Wisconsin last May. Cool shoes.
Your Mom and my Southern Dad would get along well with the Ked’s. They will always remind me of him. He always took his shoes off when he went inside so I’d often see those Ked’s on the doorstep. Kind of comforting. 8)
ybonesy, I don’t often go barefoot. I have tender feet. So I try to find comfortable light shoes for summer. Or I wear sneakers, kind of leather tennis sneakers. I wear boots in winter. And on the motorcycles. You can’t have exposed feet on the motorcycles. For safety, you’ve got to have a hard-toed boot and something with a good sole. Pavement is hot, oily, and slippery!
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Jude’s shoes are nice. I like those hiking type sandals. I had to go back to closed shoes in Portland, boots in fact. And when I got back to Albuquerque yesterday, man, were my feet hot! I love sandals. I like an espadrille, too, since that can be both closed or open toes.
I don’t much ever wear a sneaker. Too practical for my tastes. 8) I have to have some flash in my shoe. My least flashy shoes are black flip-flops, what we used to call thongs (since flip-flops had a wider strap). Really, though, I have a thing about shoes. I don’t have that many any more due to cost-cutting for the past several years, but I could, if I were rich, become an Imelda Marcos. Easily.
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QuoinMonkey,
Excuse me if my comment ‘intrudes’…you all sound like great friends, and I risk appearing to be out of line by even visiting this thread.
However, Bob’s piece about mom’s oysters has stirred deep and loving memories of times gone by and I seem to be somewhat obsessed with it all.
That aside, I can assure you that “Aunt Annie” is indeed smiling down on all of y’all, especially Bob. Both she and my dad(Uncle Pete) love Bob a great deal! As do I!
Thanks,
Bob’s cousin, Randy
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Randy, not out of line at all. I’m so glad you commented. It’s open to all and we welcome comments from anyone, anytime. And sure glad to hear that Annie is smiling down. It was wonderful that Bob made the dish when we were there, shared the old family recipe. The ritual of it gave him great comfort. And he and Teri LOVED the oysters. There are so many memories connected to food. Thanks for stopping by! Hope you’ll continue to visit. And I hope Bob is having a great writing trip this week. I think of him often on the road.
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Ditto what QM says, Randy. This isn’t a closed group, and we love having folks visit and comment, writers, not writers, regular folk, friends of friends. Well, you get the picture.
I’m so glad that QM photographed Bob’s version of Aunt Annie’s scalloped oysters. The dish really looks awesome.
Also, it’s amazing how much our childhood memories hold for us, and how universal they are. My aunt never made scalloped oysters, but she was the cook among my mom’s siblings, and the thought of her fried chicken takes me to a specific memory I had where I ate a whole bunch of it in the back of the camper during a 3-hour ride to the lake, and when my parents saw what I’d done (eaten our lunch) I got into trouble.
Food, aunts, uncles, cousins…so much there. My big question is, why do our adult memories not hold as much power as our childhood ones do?
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ybonesy, that’s a vivid memory of eating the fried chicken. I bet you got in so much trouble for eating everyone’s picnic lunch! 8) I have a specific memory of traveling to one of the Southern beaches when I was a kid, with all kinds of Southern food in tow. We never went to the lakes or ocean without a huge spread of food. I think we had Southern-style potato salad that trip, real baked beans with bacon, fried chicken just right, sweet tea, for sure. I was asking Mom if it was Myrtle Beach or one of the beaches off the Savannah coast. I think we visited both back then. Those picnics we’d sit in the shade at wooden picnic tables, I remember there was always a breeze, and the smell of everyone after swimming in the ocean. A certain wet summer smell that happens when you swim and picnic.
I don’t know what it is about adult memories vs. childhood memories. I think the brain gets too full. I was talking to someone recently about memory loss and they were saying they read a study about how the brain just gets too jam packed with information (especially this day and age) to actually remember everything that is happening when we get older. Maybe those childhood memories become imprinted because our brains are still forming. Or maybe we are simply more open; it’s before we close down the way we do when we conform as adults. What’s your theory?
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Bob, Teri, Jude (and anyone else who loves barbecue), Liz and I had pulled pork last night slathering with the bottle of Smokehouse Bar-B-Que that I purchased for her in Kansas City (no, not St. Louis!) It was SO GOOD. Yum.
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[…] writers’ photo series I’m working on. But I also have a commitment to honor from the last Kansas City writing retreat, a goal to focus on writing memoir essays for print submission — half day, 3x a week, […]
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I’m doing laundry and getting ready for a few days of writing retreat with these same three Midwest writers. This time we are heading back to Lake Michigan in Sheboygan County, Wisconsin (check out the “6 month” link on the post for the last time I was there).
I can’t tell you how much I’m looking forward to being there. The huge lake, the land, the silence. Sitting and doing Writing Practice with other writers. I’m sure we’ll have a fire, too. After starting this new job where I’m on my feet all day, it’s going to be good to sit and have time for reflection. Fall is my favorite time of year.
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[…] Midwest. We can make the drive in 8 to 10 hours if we want to. Last time, Teri, Jude, and I flew to Kansas City, Missouri. We’re thinking about meeting in Duluth, Minnesota on Lake Superior in 6 […]
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[…] we’ve met. The first was October 2007 at McCreedy’s in Sheboygan County, Wisconsin. Somewhere in the middle, there was Kansas City, Missouri. The last retreat was on Lake Pepin in Lake City, […]
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[…] one of my writing groups met in Kansas City, Missouri in April 2009, Bob took us on a tour. This photograph of Elnora’s Cafe was taken from the car […]
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[…] a writing retreat in 2009, our host took us to the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art in Kansas City, Missouri. Like we had done at […]
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[…] writing group. He led the slow walking, kept time when we wrote, engaged in lively discussions at the dinners he prepared. He was an excellent cook. I will never forget his laugh. Bob contributed work to red Ravine and […]
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