The following video includes some exciting stuff (at least for me), but I forgot to include one really, really cool thing.
Went to the Poetry Festival all day yesterday. They have these little cabins without electricity surrounding the lodge where it was held and for Sat and Sun afternoon, Hilary (artistic director extraordinaire) hired artists/poets/actors/performers to each take a cabin and then the audience went from one to the next experiencing “live art.” I did one yesterday where I had a big roll of paper and I started a story and then each person that came added to it. Some people wrote, others (kids) drew pictures. It was quite fun. But the most exciting part of the day was…we saw whales!
There was a workshop going on downstairs in the lodge, and people sleeping upstairs but I was just hanging out, so I went outside to get something and a girl I know was running for the cliff. She told me she’d seen a whale. I went with her and quite far away, we could see a pod of maybe 4-5. Then they started coming toward us and there was another pod behind them. And then, I heard one blow and looked down, and another pod was right below us! Right there!!! We started screaming…well, Kathleen did, “WHALES!!! WHALES!” and all the people streamed out of the lodge, maybe thirty of us standing there (some with no shoes on because they were napping) on the cliff screaming and laughing and yelling. There was not just one or two, but twenty! Or more. Orcas! And some of them were as close as 40 feet away! Blowing and breaching and showing off. It was the coolest thing ever! Killer whales! One of the poets was actually out in the water in a kayak and they’d gone right past him. Someone did make a video, so if I get a link, I’ll post a link here later, although, I’ve seen it and it’s mostly a lot of people screaming with joy and exuberance.
And now for the other exciting stuff!
Thanks for dropping by!
Joelle, I love the exultation in your voice–“it’s the whole real book!” Did you actually sleep with that hardcover book last night? LOL
Whales! That’s so fabulous that you and your friend noticed them and yelled. Gabriola is full of surprises. If you get the video, I’d love to see it.
Congratulations on all the great news in your blog video! You look quite happy (as you should be!). What a fun time. Thanks for sharing!
Yay! It is Sooooooo beautiful Joelle! I love it and the spine is fantastic, what a lovely book. I can’t wait to see my copy!
And whales!
Yay for whales! And huge yay for a finished copy of The Right and the Real — so awesome!! It looks great. 🙂
What a fun post! So many great things are happening in your life!
Your book is GORGEOUS! I love the cover and the way the words are flipped on the spine (and it’s RED!).
I’m so glad you had fun at the poetry festival! Whales are so amazing. I’m glad you got to see so many of them!