Photo by Nancy Morgan

On May 5, the theme for the Writing in Nature workshop turned out to be Variations on the Theme of Containers, although Morven Park was such a rich verdant green that workshop leader Nancy Morgan was tempted to turn participants loose for a Sound-of-Music romp over the meadows.  We restrained ourselves and brainstormed about the word “container” and what comes to mind, which is pretty much everything.  Nancy read Pablo Neruda’s “Ode to a Lemon,” in which he describes the interior of the fruit like a vast Cathedral. We wrote about containers in our lives, then escaped outdoors to comb the landscape for natural containers. There were lots. As expected, participants lingered on this exercise, enjoying the truly life-enhancing spring day. As always, writing together develops a sense of community; we discover shared viewpoints and “see the world through different lenses.” as one participant described it.