Photo Source: Smithsonian Magazine
We had our second Environmentalists Anonymous Writing Group meeting this past week at Village Books. We did a bit of writing and had some good discussion, too, with several new faces.
What does dead pool mean to you?
Our main writing prompt was to consider the term dead pool, which has been in the news a lot lately in reference to the drastically falling levels of the West's two main reservoirs, Lake Mead and Lake Powell. Technically, ""Dead pool" is the level at which the water behind either the Hoover or Glen Canyon dam is too low to flow out, halting downstream flows. Water managers worry that could happen within two years." We wrote about what other images and words this term conjured up for us.
Our second prompt was to write about a specific body of water (river, ocean, lake). I asked you to sketch that place and think about a time you were there--who were you with, why were you there, how did you feel, and what did you do afterwards?
I shared a poetry book by Camille Dungy and wanted to give you a copy of the title poem "Trophic Cascade" which I think is a powerful example of her work. She has a new non-fiction book coming out this year and is the current poetry editor for Orion Magazine. https://camilledungy.com/
The next meeting will be February 22nd at 12 pm. I will email a synopsis of our gathering by the Friday/Saturday after and post on this substack page for easier access (no subscription required to see writing group updates).
A few additional links:
I enjoyed being on the Chuckanut Radio Hour this week. It will air at 7 pm this Sunday and also be on their podcast soon.
https://kmre.org/programs/chuckanut-radio/
A nice article in the Cascadia Daily about Evolve at Village Books, next to where we meet.
https://www.cascadiadaily.com/news/2023/feb/10/a-couples-livelihood-love-evolved-from-truffles/