Weaving On A New Loom: Day 46

Even ten years ago I hated being alone for any length of time. I grew up one of six kids and my eldest nephew came to live with us when I was 12 and he was 8 months old. I was never alone. We were the house to be at. All our friends hung out there. Then I went away to college and then when I came to Greenfield, my friend Jay and I rented this big apartment and people visited all the time. I bought that house and it always had people living in it. It nurtured lots of people, kept them safe and secure until one day I knew I had to leave it and go someplace where there wasn't a lot of room for people to stay. Twelve years ago I moved to this tiny house. I can't believe it has been 12 years, but it has, and now I can't stand not being alone for long periods of time.

Today I went and wrote and took pictures, first at the coop and then at the Bookmill.

Then I went to Amherst, (such a different town, Amherst) and met with two friends who want to start a school. Remember wanting to start a school? These guys will do a great job. I would love to consult on the project, but for the most part, I want to write and take pictures.

Being in Amherst always makes me think of my own educational history. I first came to Amherst in 1977 to meet Dalton Miller-Jones, who became my mentor. I worked next to Dalton until I co-founded The Literacy Project in 1984. I finished my comprehensive exams and masters that spring and Dalton left UMASS and went to Williams College. That was a big fork in the road for me, but it wasn't the end of Amherst. Amherst kept coming back. I did finish my doctorate under David Bloome, and then I came back and taught for David and then I worked for Joe Connelly at The Workplace Education Project, which is where I met the two friends I visited with today. There are some days when I feel I should have been a professor at a University, and other days I feel I should have been a recluse poet in a little Vermont town somewhere. I guess I choose the middle ground.