When I was young, summer vacation began with Memorial Day and ended after the celebration of Labor Day. We had a full three-month period to enjoy the beauty, freedom, and warmth of summer. The following nine months were devoted to school and school activities, with, of course, skiing thrown in when there was enough snow to cover the ski hill. But I remember with a smile all the summer days I spent riding my horse around the large valley we lived in, heading for the hot springs to relax and swim afterwards, and the beautiful, long evenings with the sunset painting our surrounding mountains various shades of rose, orange, and red.
Today, in the city in which I live, students are heading back to school on August 13 or 14th —depending on their age group. I am always surprised when, in August, I see families loading up their cars with school supplies and school clothes late in July and the first week of August. My heart feels a tug for the young people who are deprived of the beauty and warmth of the lovely month of August. Rather than being outdoors, they will be inside, in an air-conditioned room. Fortunately, they will have some after-school activities. But, when Labor Day arrives, they will be thinking, labor has already started for us!
Even our local university now opens its doors and “fall” classrooms in August, with Open Enrollment beginning on August 14. Amazingly, this year the university’s final exam week begins on December 6, 2025. While I spent most of my life as an academic, I wonder if some of these students sometimes yearn for a free month of August in which they could relax, vacation, and spend most of their time outdoors, with school openings beginning after Labor Day.
My Writing Goals for 2025
1. Continue to develop my poetry and connections with other poets:
Bardic Trails: The Talking Gourds/Bardic Trails is a monthly Zoom presentation of poets, followed by an open mic, which is broadcast from Telluride, Colorado. The beloved Art Goodtimes is the host. On August 5, 2025, David Mason and Cally Conan-Davies presented an amazing array of poems.
The Colorado Poetry Center: Beth Franklin, the director of the Colorado Poetry Center, offers an in-person, monthly session at the Boulder Bookstore. In July, Alysse McCanna and Jackie White read poems from their work.
Columbine Poets: In July, I attended a critique session and a workshop on Naomi Shihab Nye led by her friend, Anita Jepson-Gilbert. I also Zoomed into a special session to celebrate the life and work of Andrea Gibson, the Colorado Poet Laureate, who died in July from ovarian cancer at the age of 49. Although it was not sponsored by Columbine Poets, some others from our group and I attended a workshop called Po-Open the Doors & Windows: Revising for More Air, Illumination, Hospitality, which was led by Marj Hahne.
Cannon Mine Poets: The Cannon Mine Poets group in Lafayette is hosted by Larry LaVerdure, but I was unable to attend in July.
2. Finish my first novel and query agents (IW): I worked on rearranging and editing using my spreadsheet to help me clarify my timeline.
3. Finish my second novel (G): Nothing accomplished here.
4. Continue to work on my third novel (PW): I worked a bit on this novel during a BWA workshop on writing a climax.
5. Continue to develop a network of kindred spirits in the world of writing and publishing:
Boulder Writers Alliance: I attended our July happy hour. We also had an officer’s lunch at Chautauqua and met with the manager who is setting up our August Social, which includes a bar and hors d’oeuvres. Additionally, I attended our Writers Who Read group summer gab fest hosted by Gary Alan McBride. Gary is in the process of publishing a book on his method of literary analysis that he calls Literary Forensics. I also attended a BWA online workshop led by Professor Kika Dorsey Kiko, who discussed different approaches to writing a climax.
Rocky Mountain Fiction Writers: I read the newsletter.
Women Writing the West: I registered for the online conference.
6. Document my writing progress through my blog and post it on the seventh day of each month, one blog per month in 2025:
Today is August 7, 2025. I am posting my eighth blog for this year. Summer in Colorado has been pleasant, allowing time for writing, going out, and attending outdoor activities. I particularly enjoyed attending the Colorado Music Festival. Composer Michael Abels’ Amplify, co-commissioned by the festival, opened the program, which then featured a splendid performance of Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony conducted by Director Peter Oundjian, with performances by soprano Lauren Snouffer, mezzo-soprano Abigail Nims, tenor Issachah Savage, bass Benjamin Taylor, and the St. Martin’s Chamber Choir.
A Poem for August
August
By Helen Hunt Jackson (1830–1885)
Silence again. The glorious symphony
Hath need of pause and interval of peace.
Some subtle signal bids all sweet sounds cease,
Save hum of insects’ aimless industry.
Pathetic summer seeks by blazonry
Of color to conceal her swift decrease.
Weak subterfuge! Each mocking day doth fleece
A blossom, and lay bare her poverty.
Poor middle-agèd summer! Vain this show!
Whole fields of golden-rod cannot offset
One meadow with a single violet;
And well the singing thrush and lily know,
Spite of all artifice which her regret
Can deck in splendid guise, their time to go!
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