Bringing Life Back to Small-town America

Lamb photo  courtesy of Ramblers Way Farm This is a Sponsored Post written by me on behalf of Ramblers Way. All opinions are 100% mine. "I think, weirdly, it almost takes an outsider to be able to-with no cynicism, look at small-town America and realize how fantastic it is." Michael Davies My family and I have been reminiscing about the small New England coastal town where we used to spend every summer when we were growing up. The downtown area was home to an annual oyster festival as well as weekly concerts and arts and crafts festivals on the green. The shops downtown were memorable: a family-run seafood restaurant that specialized in whole-belly fried clams and lobster rolls, a German bakery where they gave every child a chocolate chip cookie when they came in the door as well as many independent book shops, souvenir shops  and clothing boutiques. The downtown area was a thriving community where all would participate in the annual sidewalk sales that signaled the end of every summer. Before the big box department stores took over, every shop in the town was locally owned and everyone contributed to the success and local flavor of the downtown area. Kennebuck, Maine is another historical coastal New England town that surely holds special memories for many families. But like many small towns they have had to reinvent themselves to revitalize their local economy. Luckily there are companies like Ramblers Way Farm that are finding ways to keep small towns profitable here in America. Ramblers Way Farm is owned by the same co-founders of Tom's of Maine, Tom and Kate Chappell, people and a family company known for their socially responsible practices. Their corporate office is located in downtown Kennebuck, Maine. They didn't build a new building. Instead they took a historic building built in 1792 and restored it to it's original condition, modernizing it to meet and exceed today's current environmental standards. Because Ramblers Way Farm believes in "local before global" they are continuing to show the community and other small-towns that they are committed to products that are Made in America. What Ramblers Way Farm has done is exciting not only for the local community of Kennebunk, Maine but for all of us to see that if a company invests in American-made earth friendly products we all benefit. As a strong supporter of products that are Made in America, I am enthused about these sustainable worsted wool products that are produced using 100% domestic resources. According to the company website the Rambouillet wool is grown on sheep farms in Maine as well as ranches in Colorado, Texas, Montana, Utah, South Dakota and Texas. The manufacturing facilities are also in America, in other small-towns in the Carolinas and New England. I know what happens when companies invest in small towns, people and communities thrive. If you've never worn wool clothing you might be surprised how wearable it is year round. Ramblers Way Wool is durable, soft and lightweight. They are so proud of this natural fabric they'll even send you a complimentary fabric sample.   You can meet the sheep of the Ramblers Way Farm in Maine or if you're ready to shop, take a look at this beautiful clothing. I hope that other companies take notice of Ramblers Way; CNBC did awarding them Entrepreneur of the Year. Please read more about Ramblers Way and if you're able to support this American company that values small towns, communities and historic preservation.

Bursting forth like a legion of young imps

"All was now bustle and hubbub in the late quiet schoolroom. The scholars were hurried through their lessons, without stopping at trifles; those who were nimble skipped over half with impunity, and those who were tardy, had a smart application now and then in the rear, to quicken their speed, or help them over a tall word. Books were flung aside without being put away on the shelves, inkstands were overturned, benches thrown down, and the whole school was turned loose an hour before the usual time, bursting forth like a legion of young imps, yelping and racketing about the green, in joy at their easy emancipation." 

The Legend of Sleepy Hollow

I found this used as an example of using detail in writing a paragraph in a 1949 copy of Plain English Handbook: A Complete Guide to Correctness by J. Martyn Walsh and Anna Kathleen Walsh. What I like about the details in this paragraph is that even though the language is unfamiliar and different than ours today this scene could be rewritten in our modern language very easily. The details and descriptions would only have to be tweaked a little bit. Children getting released early from school today would most likely feel the same way as the children in 1790, only the language and details would change.


Today, take this descriptive detailed paragraph and rewrite it by setting it in another era and place. Try the 1970's in New York City or the 1950's in Wichita, Kansas. Or try your hometown in the year you graduated grammar school.


If you'd like to read The Legend of Sleepy Hollow in its entirety. It's available for free online. Now get back to work!


Lovingly,
The Writing Nag   

Try it one more time

When the world says, "Give up,"

Hope whispers, "Try it one more time."

Author Unknown

Yesterday I handed in the final draft of my senior study; it consisted of a poetry manuscript, a personal essay, and a critical context paper. In some ways I can't believe I'm at this point; its been two and a half years since I started on this journey. In other ways I feel very much done with my project. There were many times I felt like giving up but now I'm very glad I didn't. I still feel the need to work on my poetry before I start sending it out but I think I need a short break before I go back to it. As always the clutter of the office is calling to me this morning. I'll definitely be back to regular blogging this week, its surprising to me how much I miss it. The photo is from last summer, a hat shop in Fairplay, Colorado.

Lovingly,

The Writing Nag

This song makes me want to run away to Paris

I started early... : Poetry Everywhere : Video : The Poetry Foundation

I started early... : Poetry Everywhere : Video : The Poetry Foundation

Writing with Passion

As soon as I began, it seemed impossible to write fast enough - I wrote faster than I would write a letter - two thousand to three thousand words in a morning, and I cannot help it.
Helen Hunt Jackson


A visit to Helen Hunt Falls in Colorado Springs was enough to inspire even a nag. Helen Hunt Jackson, an American writer and poet fought tirelessly for Indian reform.
My guess Helen felt so passionate about Native American rights that this fueled her writing. Have you found your passion yet? If you have, you will be as Helen was...unstoppable. Today, look through your work. Is your passion evident or is each word a struggle?

Now get back to work!

Lovingly,

The Writing Nag

Sit in my bones

Heat, ma'am! it was so dreadful here, that I found there was nothing left for it but to take off my flesh and sit in my bones. Sydney Smith, Lady Holland's Memoir

I'm sure it is hotter in other parts of the country so I guess I can't really complain but Colorado Springs isn't supposed to be 97 degrees plus for weeks on end. We need a cooling rain shower but the skies look clear. The garden is loving it (especially the cosmos.) We ate the first cucumbers from the garden last night, they were just like I remembered from summer's past. My father always grew tomatoes and cucumbers at the beach-house and we were spoiled with cucumbers all summer long. Memories of tomato salads and marinated cucumbers and my mother's delicious pineapple-mint iced tea.

 Two more weeks until I'm done with school, it hardly seems possible...but when I look at all the writing I've done its been a long 2 1/2 years. Looking forward to getting back to regular blogging but this afternoon the hammock under the mock orange tree is calling my name.

Lovingly,

The Writing Nag 

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July-the potato salad gets iffy

"You have to love a nation that celebrates its independence every July 4, not with a parade of guns, tanks, and soldiers who file by the White House in a show of strength and muscle, but with family picnics where kids throw Frisbees, the potato salad gets iffy, and the flies die from happiness.  You may think you have overeaten, but it is patriotism." Erma Bombeck

July 5th! Happy Birthday MOM!

This weekend I felt like I was on vacation. Even though I stayed close to home we ate and drank with friends, stayed at a hotel downtown, went to the Art Festival at America the Beautiful Park, spent a wonderful afternoon and evening at a friend's cottage in the mountains near Eleven Mile Reservoir, and took a leisurely walk along Fountain Creek. We bought two art pieces for the garden and I spent the morning weeding the flower bed. No picnics or fireworks but definitely a relaxing way to spend the weekend. I feel a lot of gratitude for the beauty of Colorado this weekend. 

Tonight I'll make some potato salad (keeping the iffy) out of it, eat a hot dog and feel like I've done my part in celebrating the best parts of America. Happy Fourth of July Weekend!

Lovingly,

The Writing Nag