PhyllistheAuthor

When Angel Arellano heard that the Fresno, California Zoo was in danger of losing its accreditation and many of its animals, she wrote to her local paper, the Fresno Bee: "I am very worried for the animals. They deserve to have a home and be safe and warm. I think that if everybody in Fresno gave $1.00 to the Chaffee Zoo it would help a lot. Here's my dollar." Since Angel's letter appeared in the paper, the zoo has recieved more than half a million dollars in cash donations. Her letter rallied school children, businesses, and community organization to send money to the zoo. Now the zoo and the animals have a secure future. See what one kid can do!

I recommend Hana's Suitcase, a true story for kids. It is by Karen Levine and published by Albert Whitman & Company, 2002. It is the story of a holocaust children's museum director in Japan who obtains the suitcase of a girl who lost her life during the holocaust. The book reads like a mystery as little by little the museum director manages to find out about the girl who owned the suitcase. The book has great photos and a surprise ending. The book can be read in a short period of time, but Hana's story will remain with the reader long after the book is closed.

Hummingbirds visited our feeder this week. Every year we get the sugar water out early. The hummers fly all the way to Virginia from Costa Rica. So they are in need of nourishment when they arrive here. They seem to follow the flowering of the azealas. The azealas in Williamsburg are just coming into bloom.

Everything in Williamsburg is beautiful. Dogwood trees, redbud, and flowering scrubs all in bloom. Tulips nice, too. We have three bird nests near our house. House finches have taken up their yearly residence in a hanging basket on our side porch, wrens have moved into a birdhouse in back of the house, and robins? have a nest in a tree near our driveway. My flowers need much work and we haven't planted our garden yet. First it was too cold and now it is rainy.

I am preparing materials for the writers' conference that I will be attending in late May. I am a presenter and Ihave to do everything now since we'll be off to Venice, Italy early next month.

Saturday I attended an Authors' Showcase in Western Maryland. It's that part of Maryland that doesn't seem connected with all the rest of the state. It is about 300 miles from here and in the mountains. We stayed in the Hotel Gunter built in 1897 and redecorated in Victorian splendor. In the hotel basement was a prison. At one time, deputies transporting prisoners from place to place could stay in the hotel and deposit their prisoners downstairs while they enjoyed the amenities of the big hotel. There was also a cock fighting arena in the basement.

About twenty authors from Maryland and Virginia attended the program. We had great weather for our trip and we enjoyed the outing. It is always a treat to get together with other writers.

On the way home, we visited Antietam National Battlefield where more American were killed in one day than in any day in our history. It is pretty and peaceful place where 23,000 Confederates and Yankees were killed in 1862. After the Union victory, President Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation, freeing slaves in the Confederate states.

Yesterday at the James City Library, I was one of four people who read original poetry. One of the other readers was a senior at the College of William and Mary, Meghan Williams. She received the Williamsburg Poetry Workshop award for excellence in poetry writing. Congratulations, Meghan! Afterward we all went for lunch at Jimmy's in Norge.

Today is poetry again. The Williamsburg Poetry Workshop meets from two to four this afternoon. We will spend two solid hours talking about words. What a great way to spend the afternoon.