Southern Festival of Books

What a treat to have had this time with these four friends....and spouses. The eight of us gathered this morning for a traditional family style southern breakfast at Monell's...just a few blocks from Bill and Kaki's condo. Almost everything we've done has been within walking distance....one of the advantages of urban living.

Nancy, Bob, MaryAnn, Paul, Bill, Kaki, Bill and Vicki

Today was the Southern Festival of Books where Paul and Bill participated in a panel discussion about their book, The Wilderness of Friendship, along with Jordon Ritter Conn and his book of a similar theme called American Men. It was a picture perfect day in Nashville!

Book Signing

There was a picturesque view of downtown and the capital building sitting high on the hill in the park where the festival was located. Tennessee has a challenging and oppressive political climate...and Bill and Kaki are dedicated to almost daily social justice work of holding elected officials and ICE accountable. They are also fabulous hosts....we head back to Maine tomorrow.

Werthan Bag Factory

Our dear friends and hosts Bill and Kaki live in a fabulous three level industrial loft condo in downtown Nashville.....the three windows at the back overlook the city skyline. Their building is part of a huge complex of buildings that was once the historic Werthan Bag Factory. 

The factory started as a rag and repurposing used burlap business and evolved into printing bags for flour....feed and other goods.

Bill and Kaki have an collection of actual printing plates that were used for printing bags....and I was tasked with helping them figure out where and how to hang them. 

Paul and I had a couple hours in the condo on our own this morning so I came up with a tentative plan using paper templates and puzzling them up the stairs. Paul was happy on the couch reading his book giving me tips as I needed them. We all have our gifts.

After a few hours out and about...we got to work.

We moved the dining room table closer to the window creating an opportunity for a music listening area near Bill's expansive record collection. 

After a bit of tweaking...we are all pretty pleased with the result....loving the way the frames compliment the wooden beams in this historic Werthan Bag Factory loft.

What a Day!

What a full and fabulous day we had today!

Four friends back together at Vanderbilt Divinity School where it all started.

The Nashville city lights from Bill and Kaki's condo.

Nashville.....

....here we come! 

After a wonderful whirlwind visit with our dear friends....Paul and I quickly switched gears and are heading to Nashville this afternoon.  There are a couple of book promotion events over the next few days and it will be good to gather with the guys and their wives. I will try and post a joy nugget every day but my timing may be off....being fully present is my main goal.

George was the best man in our wedding....and he and his wife Celeste (on the right) were two of our recent guests along with Greg, Hedy, and Rick. We had a wonderful time together!

I smiled at this one...because even back in 1981 George had a camera in his hands.

George is a birder and I enjoyed watching him photograph the birds in my yard...and pretty much everywhere we went. I'm hoping to share some of his photos at some point. 

This is one of my favorite photos he's ever taken from a trip to the Mediterranean. 

See you soon from Nashville!

All Good

There are things you do because they feel right & they may make no sense & they may may make no money & it may be the real reason we are here: to love each other & to eat each other's cooking & say it was good. Brian Andreas

We had five friends from college in town for a couple days...a few of them we've not seen for 40+ years. The seven of us did some touring around Portland today....but mostly we spent time around the table loving each other.....sharing stories and laughter and eating good food. It was all good.

Let's Make it a Thing!

It was a bit summery yesterday....but I was happy to have fall back today.

The morning air was crisp and beautiful....and I was tickled to catch up to Patty on my morning walk. That's the joy of having a friend right here in the neighborhood.

Did you notice the reflection in that ever-present heart puddle on the sidewalk?

Julie S. sent me a photo of this stubby pumpkin stem. I smiled because she didn't take a photo of the whole pumpkin....she knew it's all about the stem! (sorry....I just love saying that!) 

If you have fabulous pumpkin stem to share....send me a photo and I'll post it here. Let's make it a thing! 

This is one from my archives...just look at that crazy stem! 

Right Down the Street

Subtitle: A Generous Heart... A Playful Sense of Adventure....and the Final Stop for The Wandering Flowers

Settle in....I have a story to tell.

Patty was a big cheerleader for The Traveling Flowers. If you are new to the blog...that journey started here...with a guy named Chuck. With the help of Cherie and Dale Chuck's hand crafted metal flowers made a cross country trip from California to Maine....and Patty celebrated with me every step of the way. After they arrived...she secretly photographed them around my condo. 

She invited them down to her garden for a photo shoot with her evening primrose....and she brought Sluggo (her stuffed banana pepper) to my garden for another photo shoot. 

Patty was a fan....and that caught Cherie's attention. Patty made an impression.

Cherie contacted me in early August saying she thought Patty needed her own Traveling Flowers....and wondered if I would help with the surprise. Of course I would! 

She and Dale were heading out on a two month driving adventure to and from California to visit her dad.....and she wanted to bring Patty some of Chuck's flowers. She called them the Wandering Flowers  this time....and on their return trip...showed them the the roadside attractions along the way....and I shared all of that here on the blog. Cherie and Dale....along with the flowers arrived home in Pennsylvania last week. 

Cherie boxed them up....and courtesy of the USPS they made their way to Maine. I love her MUSE box...which is a actually a bag from the Corning MUSEum of Glass to cover  a wine box. Cherie knew...and you probably know too....but I learned the hard way that you can't send liquor boxes through the mail.

The flowers arrived at my condo on Monday....and today they wandered down the street to Patty's home....after making a stop by my front door.

Thanks to Chuck's generous heart, and Cherie and Dale's playful sense of adventure....The Wandering Flowers have made their final stop....right down the street.

They checked out the back garden....but landed by Patty's front door while she was out.

Surprise! Patty loves them....and Sluggo does too!

Thank you Cherie and Dale....and thank you Chuck!

What a fun connection journey this has been!

Moments

It's Janice's Birthday today....and this golden oldie window box display continues to be one of my favorite Janice moments. But things have changed. Janice and Jay have a brand new garage....with a brand new window. 

And whether or not there is a new window box, I can always be certain that every time I visit....there will be some sort of a colorful and fabulous Janice moment. And I celebrate that she is just ten minutes away.

Happy Birthday Janice! 

I had a wonderful visit with Patty today...and I keep celebrating that she's right down the street. Yesterday I had breakfast with Marita and tomorrow I'll connect with Jane. I got a couple update emails today from Cherie (more on that tomorrow)....and texts and calls from other friends in the past several days. I'm so grateful for so many joy-filled moments with my circle of women friends.

It was a treat to have breakfast at Marita's yesterday....and I was smitten with her collection of found nature objects on his kitchen bar counter. 

The whole was as beautiful as all the individual parts.

So may sweet moments.

Carry It Home!

On our way to Monson I did a little paper cutting in the car. Just a few simple things....and just the inside cuts. 

Today I enjoyed some time on the patio and did the outside cuts with a pair of scissors.  They will come in handy in my joy journals or on one of my tags. You can never have enough leaf shapes.

 

I also made a few photo montages to send to Alyson...and Janice and Patsy....so why not share a couple of them here. This first one needs a little explanation. Janice, Patsy and I walked a mile or so into town on morning. It was a lovely day and downtown Monson is cozy and quaint. There's a pottery shop, a little general store and a very nice art gallery with all kinds of magic from local artists.

Patsy and Janice bought beautiful handmade baskets. Janice's was small and easy to carry....but Patsy bought a handwoven hamper. Yes...a hamper. Luckily it had two handles so she and I were able to walk it the mile back home. We had to switch hands every 10 minutes or so...but we were pretty tickled with ourselves not going back with the car.

I've carried many things home over the years and I still have several of them in my home that have been painted or rehabbed. I love repurposing other people's cast offs! 

This was a great find that I carried home with the help of Anita and Janet:

https://joyfulputtering.blogspot.com/2015/04/one-persons-trash.html

And this repurposed table is in our entry way that Paul carried home:

https://joyfulputtering.blogspot.com/2023/08/another-table-project.html

And this found coffee table is still in our living room...it got driven home:
https://joyfulputtering.blogspot.com/2021/04/no-1123-12-d.html

One more montage with the truckload of stuff from the boat house that went to the dump the next day. It was so nice to help with a camp cleanup project!

Something To Celebrate!

There's something to celebrate in the Shupe household! Paul has been friends with Bill, Bill and Bob for 40+ years since their Vanderbilt Divinity School days, and for the past 20 years they've spent a week together somewhere in the wilderness...most often in the mountains of Colorado. They've just written and published a book called The Wilderness of Friendship in which they share their friendship journey and explore events and ideas that gave shape to their friendship. I'm so proud of these guys!

All of their royalties will be donated to the James Lawson Institute, an organization dedicated to inspire people to engage in preparation, dialogue, and research for social justice.

The Wilderness of Friendship offers a counterpoint to the consensus that there is an epidemic of loneliness among men in the United States. Four men, friends since their days at Vanderbilt Divinity School, explore and describe the values and actions of more than forty years of friendship. Among them are hospitality of place and ideas, risking vulnerability to share life fully, a shared wonder at the amazing blessings of life, and a love for the wilderness, both literal and metaphorical, where there is always more going on than can be understood in the moment. What emerges is one vision of what it means to be a man, husband, father, friend: open, teachable, and above all, joyful. 

I have a feeling that this book may be more important than perhaps it at first appears. Our country's woes have many sources, but surely one is the sad and isolated condition of its men, who have been told to stand on their own. As the authors make clear in this lovingly written chronicle, alternatives are possible!"

-BILL MCKIBBEN, author of Here Comes the Sun

"With honesty, humor, and love, these engaging essays—individually and collectively—offer a healing balm to men like the authors and to all of us, especially in these times of disconnection and conflict over gender norms. By letting us in to their four decades(!) of friendship, the authors invite us to reconnect with each other and with ourselves. A true gift!"

-ELLENT. ARMOUR, E. Rhodes and Leona B. Carpenter Chair and Professor of Feminist Theology; Vanderbilt Divinity School

"Here we witness an extraordinary friendship forged over decades and deepened through shared commitments to curiosity, self-reflection, and justice. With honesty and humility, wit and wisdom, four friends, chosen brothers to one another, recount the stories of their shared life, shaped by seasons of joy, loss, discovery, and care. The building blocks of that friendship—intentional time together in wild places, deepening vulnerability, and a longstanding dedication to learning and unlearning—offer a counterpoint to the epidemic of loneliness. Wise, generous, and deeply humane, this book offers both a testimony to authentic male friendship and an invitation, especially for men willing to confront the privileges of whiteness and patriarchy, to cultivate deeper relationships: with one another, with the hurts of the world and with the sacred."

-ALLEN EWING-MERRILL, Executive Director, The BTS Center