I have to be at the airport tomorrow at six am, to catch a flight to New Jersey, to take the train to Manhattan, to take another train to upstate New York, for a 5.5 day science writing workshop in the woods by a small lake.

I am feeling desperately miserable about being away from Naomi for six days – especially because I was just away from her last weekend for four, for my brother’s [excellent] bachelor party in the mountains and rivers of Colorado. (She had a great time with her grandparents and her dad, her scooter and her teddy bears, extra cookies and bushels of berries. It’s me that feels crazy without frequent hugs from a tiny sunscreen-smelling slightly damp plump creature.) When I’m feeling miserable and conflicted, I process by writing about it. And I have this idea of sharing small daily trip missives here – a reminder? A distraction? An anchor? A pause? So here I am.

This workshop is hosted by Orion Magazine, whose mission statement reads:

Orion magazine invites readers into a community of caring for the planet. Through writing and art that explore the connection between nature and culture, Orion inspires new thinking about how humanity might live on Earth justly, sustainably, and joyously.

I applied several months ago, was accepted, and received a grant from my science teaching fellowship to attend. My goals are: 1) to write a lot – about science teaching and place-based education, and also on a larger piece I’ve been working on for literally years that is a sort of coming-of-age memoir of my three summers working on Isle Royale merged with ecology lessons; 2) to meet a lot of interesting ecologists and writers and activists from around the country(world?) to inform my teaching and maybe rope into a guest speaking gig (always, always looking for professionals to bring into the classroom); and 3) learn new and creative ways to make my own writing and my students’ writing better.

I’m in a 12-person workshop focused on creative nonfiction with a science and nature bent, led by J. Drew Lanham, who wrote The Home Place, which is really wonderful and I can’t believe I get to not only meet him, and eat meals with him, but also learn about and talk about science writing, ecology, and environmental justice with him.

Drew sent a long introductory email yesterday that included phrases like “This will require a certain vulnerability which demands trust” and “a new kind of nature writing that blends old and new ways, that expands personal stake and reader experience into sometimes uncomfortable realms not addressed frequently.” (“Oh geez,” said Niko.)

I am supposed to bring 3-5 samples of my “best” writing and I’m feeling like I might write something during my three-hour layover in Manhattan tomorrow?

More tomorrow. Send love. Wish luck.