Originally published in LLL US Western Division’s Connections #75, January/February 1998
Many of us agonize over finding just the right topic or expanding an idea into an article for the Area Leaders’ Letter (ALL), a memo, Connections, or another La Leche League publication. Waiting and hoping for inspiration can be illusive and sporadic at best. However, he future article you’re looking for may be in something you’ve already written.
Originally published in LLL US Western Division’s Connections #71, May/June 1997
“She was like clear blue skies in the heaviest fog . . .â€
—E. Annie Proulx, praising her editor in the acknowledgments from her Pulitzer Prize-winning novel, The Shipping News
Nova Scotia is famous for its fog. Like many coastal areas in Atlantic Canada, as warmer air spreads over the ocean and the frigid landscape, clouds of wet, gray mist settle along the shore. From my kitchen this time of year I can see Birches Park swathed in ghostlike veils, making the hill on Portland Street disappear and the regal copses of birch trees fade into last year’s summer memory.
Originally published in LLL US Western Division’s Connections #66, July/August 1996
An index is a useful tool for locating material that has been written about a particular subject. But have you considered using an index to generate an idea for a new article? The August 1995 Connections index compiled by Lynne Coates covers Issues #39–#59. As you look through the subjects and issue numbers, the following considerations might help spark a topic for your own article.
Based on a conversation I had with a one-armed man in line at the $2 window at the 1974 Kentucky Derby
I met you at the two-dollar window,
At the races on a day in July;
And I could tell you were a regular winner,
By the crazy look you had in your eye.
Written in Brooklyn, New York, in 1975
Movin’ and groovin’ at the deli,
Not exactly sure what I want;
Standin’ at the counter, starin’ through the glass,
Corned beef is nice, but it ain’t got no class.
Written at a booth in Deena’s Diner during the summer of 1975.
Just outta Jackson, headin’ for Nashville,
‘Cause I’m gonna be a country star, too;
When the axel started breakin’ and the van started shakin’,
We pulled off on Highway 22.
Written around 1975 after seeing a Humane Society film on stray dogs
Stray dog, stray dog,
Let me take you home where it’s warm;
Stray dog, stray dog,
Come on in from the storm.
Written in 1974, based on an overheard conversation between a couple in a restaurant.
CHORUS:
I feel you slippin’ through my finger,
And maybe that’s the way it has to be;
But let’s stop the car right here,
Have another cup of coffee,
And tell me why you’re breakin’ up with me.
Written in about 1975
I can go for months without once ever thinkin’ of you;
And then it’s hit me,
The feelin’ will grip me again.
Written around 1978 in Albuquerque
I was born in Tucumcari, wen to school in T or C,
My folks moved to Artesia, so I hitched to the Duke City;
Did some gamblin’ in Portales, Santa Rosa, and Raton,
Met a man in Bernalillo, ran away to Farmington.
