Poetry Friday

Poetry Friday Summer of Books and Parks Roundup

August 11, 2023 /
 
Tabatha at The Opposite of Indifference is our host today. Hop on over there for the roundup. 
 

Reflections on My Summer of Parks and Libraries

 
When I made my plans for the summer of parks and libraries, I honestly didn’t know if I’d be able to make it work. There was one week that I wasn’t able to do much. Other weeks, I just piled it on. If I hadn’t been intentional about this, there’s no way I would have been able to finish.
 
This is a small sampling of the plan I made. The plan changed!
 
I planned the visits to the libraries and parks at the beginning of the summer, trying to match up ones that were close together. In about half the cases, I stuck to the original plan. One thing that is true about my county—it’s HUGE. I traveled on roads and visited far-flung parts of the county I’d never been to before.
 
I set out to go to a park each time because I wanted to practice my camera skills. My word of the year is NOTICE, and I knew the summer would be my time to really learn my new camera. I still have a lot to learn, but I have taken hundreds of pictures–a few dozen I’m excited about.
 

Park Learnings

 

Abandon Expectations

In some cases, I traveled to specific parks for things I wanted to see–like going to Riverbend for dragonflies. I didn’t see a single dragonfly. Maybe I was in the wrong part. But it was okay because I was able to visit Great Falls National Park accidentally.
 
As someone who likes to plan things out, I didn’t overplan this adventure. I had a general idea and I was willing to change my plan when I discovered, for example, that the park had no parking or the park wasn’t where I thought it was.
 

Welcome Surprises

I think when I went into parks and just looked for interesting things, I always found them. If I had the time, I allowed for lingering.
 

Parks I Visited–22 in all!

Fairfax County Parks

These parks are run specifically by my county. Some are really large and some are so small they have no parking–just trails within neighborhoods. I didn’t even visit a sliver of the parks available.
  • Ellanor C. Lawrence Park
  • Burke Lake Park
  • Woodglen Lake Park
  • Green Spring Gardens
  • Hidden Oaks
  • Hidden Pond
  • Lake Accotink
  • Lake Fairfax
  • McLean Central Park
  • Riverbend Park
  • Huntley Meadows
  • Trails near Providence Rec Center
  • Long Branch Stream Park
 

City/Town Parks

  • Fairfax City: Ashby Pond Conservatory
  • Town of Vienna: Freeman Store and Museum
 

Farms/Commercial

  • Burnside Farms
 

NOVA Parks

Because I live in Northern Virginia–a cluster of counties that are close to Washington, D.C., several of the counties have banded together to create a park system. There are parks in each of the respective counties. I recently found out that some of these parks also have cabin rentals. My writing friends and I are already planning a retreat.
  • Pohick Bay Regional Park
  • Meadowlark Botanical Gardens
 

National Parks

There are loads of National Parks in D.C., but I didn’t realize how many there were on my side of the river.
  • Great Falls National Park
  • Dyke Marsh Nature Preserve
  • Fort Hunt
 

Wildlife Refuge

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service also has a National Wildlife Refuge System.
 
  • Occoquan Bay Wildlife Refuge
 
I’m not done with parks yet. I still have a lot left to visit, but I’ll have to slow my pace a bit.
 
 

Library Learnings

Reading about libraries closing and being underfunded always makes me nervous. I’m so lucky that I’ve lived in places in Virginia that have well-funded libraries. Things I love about Fairfax Libraries:
  1. Ample parking–I’m not kidding. In DC Metro, parking isn’t always easy. Library parking is always easy in-easy out.
  2. Places to Study–Every single branch had tables for individual study, group study, and quiet study. Some had more space than others, but every single one was outfitted with great spaces to work. A few times, I was able to take my writing and work for a few hours. This is one of the things I really missed in the early days of the pandemic–writing in community.
  3. Community spaces–Each branch has different ways they provide community services. Some of the branches were literally next door as community services. Others served as a cooling center on hot days, a place to get free internet, and a clean bathroom.
  4. Bathrooms–Speaking of bathrooms. Every single bathroom was so clean. Doesn’t seem like a big deal, but I didn’t take it for granted when I often came in to a library after walking 2-6 miles.
  5. More than Books–There’s so much more that books in a library (which I know you know). But one library had a DIY space where people could come in and use different things. One lady was using one of the sewing machines. Many branches also had ongoing jigsaw puzzle exchanges (like a Little Free Library for puzzles). Such a brilliant idea.
 
I only had one minor quibble. One of the branches had their children’s nonfiction shelved with their adult nonfiction. As a school librarian, this really bugged me. Just put the children’s nonfiction in its own space and make it kid-friendly with easy signage. This wasn’t an issue of space. It’s hard enough for kids to navigate Dewey without throwing in thousands of adult books you have to wade through.
 
At almost every library, I looked at the new books (adult and children’s). I also looked for adult and children’s poetry. I also browsed some of the nonfiction sections for some projects I’m working on. I’d already exhausted the library catalog, but sometimes serendipity helps too.
 

Fairfax County Libraries–23 Branches!

  • Burke Centre
  • Kings Park
  • Centreville Regional
  • Herndon Fortnightly
  • George Mason Regional
  • Woodrow Wilson
  • Pohick Regional
  • John Marshall
  • Kingstowne
  • Richard Byrd
  • Reston
  • Lorton
  • Chantilly Regional
  • Dolley Madison
  • City of Fairfax + Virginia Room
  • Great Falls Library
  • Martha Washington Library
  • Oakton Library
  • Patrick Henry Library
  • Sherwood Regional
  • Thomas Jefferson
  • Tyson-Pimmit
 

Other Libraries I Visited This Summer

 
 
  • Library of Virginia in Richmond
  • Library of Congress in Washington, D.C.–I visited the Science and Business Reading Room in the Adams building, the Main Reading Room in the Jefferson building, and the Madison cafe (haha!) in the Madison building.
  • UVA Claude Moore Health Sciences Library 
  • George Mason University Fenwick Library
  • Fairfax Historic Court Records Research Room
  • Shirlington Library (Arlington County)–I picked up my Arlington County Library Card

 

For links to all of my summer parks and libraries adventures, you can see my posts here. 

 
 

Sealey Challenge

 
This week I had to do my planned reading a little out of order because of a book that didn’t come in yet. I’m enjoying reading the bios in The Poets Laureate Anthology and the interviews in Poetry in Person. Both of these were finds at my library. 
 
 
I read Jiggery Pokery: A Compendium of Double Dactyls (apparently there is a NEWish version of this!!) edited by Anthony Hecht and John Hollander and enjoyed it very much. So much so that I dreamed about double dactyls. In my dream I brainstormed all of the different double dactyls I could use. You think I woke up and wrote them down? Nope. Maybe one day I could write a book called DOUBLE DACTYL DREAMS.
 
 
 

Haiku of the Week

 
between two buildings
laden with the powerful
wasp reveres the bloom
 
Haiku & Photo © 2023 Marcie Flinchum Atkins
 
 
Photo Taken: At a garden between The Supreme Court and Capitol Building, Washington, D.C. on July 7, 2023
 
Haiku Written: July 11, 2023

Haiku Moments Playlist

 
 

What I’m Noticing

 
Flowers on my desk with flower frog (look closely at the holes). I recently learned about flower frogs from some algorithm on Instagram. Then I did a bit of a research dive into them. 
 
I decided to take a quick walk around the historic town of Clifton and they had a vintage store. On the front porch, the first thing I saw, was a flower frog. Well, I bought it, came home, clipped some wildflowers from my garden, and I have my first flower frog.

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39 Comments

  • Denise Krebs

    August 11, 2023 at 10:06 AM

    Marcie, wow, this is fascinating. I’m feeling a little jealous seeing all those parks and libraries in your area. I know you had to travel a lot, but what rewards at the end of your walks and drives. Beautiful. I love the wasp–oblivious to the human power around it, but it could probably make any one of those powerful people jump or curse or run!

  • Tracey Kiff-Judson

    August 11, 2023 at 11:48 AM

    Your library tours are so impressive and comprehensive! I love that you love libraries so much. I tried to request the old Jiggery Pokery from my library, but there isn’t a copy in our whole library system. I might have to invest in my own copy!

  • Rose Cappelli

    August 11, 2023 at 4:35 PM

    Marcie-
    What a great roundup of what you’ve accomplished this summer. Thanks for sharing your beautiful photos. I’ve said it before – you are always inspiring!

  • Tabatha

    August 11, 2023 at 9:25 PM

    High fiving you from the other side of the river — well done! (Earlier this year, I tried making my own flower frogs out of clay. A fun project that I hope I’ll return to later in the year.)

  • Carol Jean Labuzzetta

    August 11, 2023 at 9:54 PM

    Marcie,
    I love how organized and busy you are with your parks and libraries visitation project. What a great idea for the summer months. I’ve had to visit new libraries and new parks this year as a result of our move last June (2022). It’s a learning experience to see what each has to offer, isn’t it? There are a few SNAs (State Natural Areas) in Wisconsin I still want to visit this summer – I hope I’ll have time later this month! I also wanted to tell you that I love how you are always actively learning – your camera, new places, new subjects, etc. I am much the same! The flowers in your wasp haiku look like a painting!

  • Kathryn Apel

    August 11, 2023 at 10:09 PM

    My goodness! Marcie, this post is packed with details.
    1) I adored your butterfly on the pink flowers. Perspective is everything in that pic.
    2) As someone who rarely plans holidays (a caravan helps) I am astounded by your level of preparedness. That said, you had some goals! (And outcomes!!)
    3) I have a flower frog! In fact, I have 3. But I didn’t know what two of them were, until I clicked your link. I have a crystal one, that came with the vase (my husband’s grandmother’s) and two spikey metal ones that we got from a friend. I don’t think he knew what they were, either. Other than made of lead!
    4) I love that you’ve mentioned places that I’ve been, when I was in US. That’s always a buzz! (Which is appropriate – since that wasp was in a garden I visited.)

    • Marcie Flinchum Atkins

      August 13, 2023 at 1:42 PM

      How cool that you discovered that you had flower frogs! What’s so amazing to me is that when I’ve been to visit various flea markets and antique shops, 100% of the people there know what they are. So cool!

  • Alan j Wright

    August 12, 2023 at 2:22 AM

    Marcie, a most comprehensive sharing of your heart and mind expanding project. I am very impress with the breadth of this venture and the learnings you have acquired. The linking of parks and libraries has yielded much treasure for you and much to ponder for your readers. I salute your commitment.

  • Linda Mitchell

    August 12, 2023 at 7:21 AM

    Wow! How, on earth did you do all this in one tiny little summer break? I’m impressed beyond measure. And, you give me ideas. I actually spent quite a bit of time creating journals this summer. I want to share some video of that work…maybe even some poetry that goes along with it. Thanks again for your stunning inspiration!

    • Marcie Flinchum Atkins

      August 13, 2023 at 1:44 PM

      Yes! Please share your videos! That would be so cool! I honestly didn’t think I’d be able to go to every single library and park. It helped that my husband and my youngest were gone for 11 days, then 7 more later. I packed a lot into those days.

  • Linda Baie

    August 12, 2023 at 9:50 AM

    What a summer of fun and learning, Marcie. I love going to libraries in our system that I’ve never been to. Each seems reflective of the librarians who work there. Every time I read your post, I enjoy the nature photos. Looking long and discovering such beauty feels so good. And, I smiled at your discovery of flower frogs. I have several, passed down from family. Wishing you a lovely end to summer and beginning of the school year!

  • Mary Lee

    August 12, 2023 at 4:36 PM

    What a glorious summer you had! I love how you set goals, make plans, and then dive into all the goodness!

  • Margaret Simon

    August 12, 2023 at 7:18 PM

    You have been busy. And so blessed to live near many parks and libraries. I’m not a fan of wasps, sorry. Too many stings and I have bad reactions. I’ve even had one chase me. It was hiding in the mailbox and I ran away screaming. But I do love sunflowers!

  • Molly Hogan

    August 13, 2023 at 8:14 AM

    Wow! I am so inspired by this post. Seeing your summer plan in its fully-accomplished glory is wonderful. It makes me wonder how I might do something more deliberate with my free time next summer. Your haiku is fabulous and I love how that wasp is nestled in between two buildings full of knowledge, doing its own instinctive thing. Also, “revere” is the perfect verb here. Such a fabulous post! Thanks!

  • Karen Edmisten

    August 13, 2023 at 10:44 AM

    The parks! The libraries! This is my idea of a dream summer. 🙂 ❤️

    Your haiku and photo are lovely too, Marcie. I always love dropping in to see what you’re up to.

  • Susan T.

    August 15, 2023 at 3:40 PM

    Marcie, I thoroughly enjoyed reading your post about the parks and libraries. It’s inspiring! And I love the fact that a DC wasp made an appearance in your haiku.

  • Michelle Kogan

    August 16, 2023 at 1:55 PM

    Appreciations for this deliciously rich post Marcie, and I definately think you ought to revisit the Double Dactyl Dream book idea sounds marvelous! BTW I wonder if a poem may emerge from all these interesting park names, I particularly like Frying Pan Farm Park, and the “Hidden” ones too.

  • Karen Finch

    August 16, 2023 at 5:08 PM

    Between the Supreme Court and capitol building “laden with the powerful” you found beauty. And your thoughts on libraries’ features (and that shelving flaw…) was a fun read.