Sunday, April 28, 2013

Entry # 148 - "The Truth About Water"

Scotland - May 2012 - Jan Bowman Photo
 Most people take the idea of having fresh water always available as a "given" in their lives.  We turn on the tap and have an abundance of safe water. But my dear old friend, Dr. Mary Bowman-Kruhm has been working on a project to bring fresh water to a village in Kenya that she visited a few years ago. As a result, I have thought about how we take our clean water supply for granted. So I wrote a short creative nonfiction piece about it last year. 

 

The Truth About Water 

by Jan Bowman - October 2012 

Drink up. Water is wealth. Water heals. Mends the cells and flushes toxins.



Scotland - May 2012 - Jan Bowman photo
Drink water from plastic bottles bound for recycling or landfills.  Reclaimed water flows into sinks, bathtubs and showers. We stand over cleansing basins of recycled water, flushed with complex chemicals. We drink deeply.  Wash vital organs clear of toxins with water taken from bottles and tidy faucets.  Faucets quench thirst, but bottles travel better.



Drink water. We have so much. But do we think about it at all? Water holds it all together.  The great Earth’s land masses press,  just as we do, against oceans, rivers, tides. Think of areas in China, Kenya, India or the Sudan. Among the Earth’s poorest people, water is valued more than riches. Water is wealth. Whether woman or child, she who bends her back and kneels to touch the shallow stream or river with dry, cracked lips will live, unless the water brings disease, or toxins do their work.   Or if no rains come, famine will. 



Drink water. But how much?  It depends. Where do you live? How old are you? How healthy or wealthy? How much is enough? Perhaps eight or nine cups are enough, unless you’re thirsty, or tired, or your urine’s darker than light yellow.  Or unless it’s early in the morning, or you’ve just swallowed a handful of vitamins, or you’re terribly ill. Then you might need more or less.



Drink more water. Lose weight. Flush out those toxins destined for the rivers of reclaimed water flowing into glasses and tubs. Don’t worry that you’ve taken too much. Water your lawn. Wash your car.  Flush and flush, because you can.  Not everyone can. But you'll not think of that today. For that is our truth about water. We don't know what life is like without it. 



Drink up. Water is wealth. Water heals. Mends the cells and flushes toxins. Or some say,"Drink wine. You’ll live longer." Of course, it takes water to make wine.

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 My friend, Dr. Mary Bowman-Kruhm, has been working with this project to dig wells which will provide fresh water in Oltorotua, Kenya.  I interviewed her on my blog site (Entry # 68) last year about her writing career and her work with the Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Frederick, Maryland - in conjunction with the Rotary Clubs in Maryland and Kenya. Here are some links for more information and I have cut and pasted this recent posting from the website about the work they are doing.  Go to my blog site - Entry # 68 - Posted last June 5, 2012, for my complete interview with Mary about her writing and her work on this project

Consider the good that you might do with a small donation to this worthy project.      

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The Maasai, the Mara, Musings, and a fresh water well for Oltorotua, Kenya

Dig This Well! is a site dedicated to the establishment of a fresh water well for Oltorotua, Kenya. A group of congregants from the Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Frederick (Maryland), are working with Rotary Clubs in Maryland and Kenya to meet this goal.

To read Blog Posts Click Here: “Why Dig This Well” .


Well-flyer

The Oltorotua Clean Water and Sanitation Project

Sponsored by the Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Frederick, MD and Rotary Clubs of Leonardtown, Fredericktowne, Lexington Park & Prince Frederick, MD USA

On the Kenyan plains

• Water is very difficult to find and not safe to drink.
• No sanitary way to dispose of human waste threatens the environment and the health of the people.
• Fetching water can be dangerous because of the presence of many large wild animals, including lions and other cats, elephants, and African buffalo.
• Because of the long distance, fetching water consumes much of the day for the women of Oltorotua, whose skills are now untapped.

Jackson Liaram

is a junior elder of Oltorotua village and a silver-level safari guide. He and his wife Susan have 2 children. But no electricity, no toilets … and Susan walks several miles a day for water. Jackson is dedicated to protecting his people and the environment. He wants to find a way to safely dispose of wastewater. He wants to help his people build a safe and reliable clean water supply. A hydrogeological survey shows water is under the village and the village elders have formed a water committee to build for sustainability and water equity and to address hygiene training. The Nakuru-Great Rift Valley Rotary Club is providing local oversight to assure all contributions are wisely used.

Well for Oltorotua Kenya

With your help we can make a difference by:

• Drilling 3 new boreholes—deep wells—adequate to supply the village’s needs.
• Helping the villagers construct 100 new sanitary latrines.

Safe and clean drinking water and sanitation is a human right essential to the full enjoyment of life and other human rights.”
Declaration of the General Assembly, United Nations, 28 July 2010

Download Dig Well flyer

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Brief Bio

Jan Bowman’s fiction has appeared in numerous publications including, Roanoke Review, Big Muddy, The Broadkill Review, Third Wednesday, Minimus, Buffalo Spree (97), Folio, The Potomac Review and others. Glimmer Train named a recent story as Honorable Mention in the November 2012 Short Story Awards for New Writers. Another story won the 2011 Roanoke Review Fiction Award, and her stories have been nominated for Pushcart Prizes, Best American Short Stories, Pen/O’Henry Awards and a story was a finalist in the “So To Speak” Fiction Contest. She is working on two collections of short stories while shopping for a publisher for a completed story collection. Learn more at www.janbowmanwriter.com or






Thursday, April 18, 2013

Entry # 147 - "Websites for Writers"


Photo Credit - Jan Bowman - April 17, 2013
 Check out the May/June 2013 – “Writer’s Digest for The 15th Annual “101 Best Websites for Writers.” Tiffany Luckey, with Ophelia Thomas compiled the selections. Here are my personal top six favorites from the list.  But depending upon your writing needs there are many to explore.

--  Jane Friedman’s website – janefriedman.com
     Examines writing and publishing in the digital age.
--  Preditors & Editors – pred-ed.com
     Looks at scams, fraud, & “slicky-icky” creeps preying on writers.
--  Writer Unboxed website – writerunboxed.com
     Gives craft & business advice.
--  C.Hope Clark’s website –fundsforwriters.com
     Gives information on writers markets that pay.
--  The Review Review – thereviewreview.com
     Gives comprehensive guide to latest issues & needs of lots of publications.
--  Jeff Goins, Writer   -- goinswriter.com
     Gives positive inspiration to writers on craft & living as a writer.

For details on these and other sites useful to writers go to the Writer’s Digest website found at WritersDigest.com

This is a reading week for me, as well as a week for exploration, while I refresh my experience banks for future writing projects. I am on vacation from my regular writing projects. And it is sunny and lovely here in Hawaii.
Photo Credit - Jan Bowman - April 17, 2013
 
Brief Bio

Jan Bowman’s fiction has appeared in numerous publications including, Roanoke Review, Big Muddy, The Broadkill Review, Third Wednesday, Minimus, Buffalo Spree (97), Folio, The Potomac Review and others. Glimmer Train named a recent story as Honorable Mention in the November 2012 Short Story Awards for New Writers. Another story won the 2011 Roanoke Review Fiction Award, and her stories have been nominated for Pushcart Prizes, Best American Short Stories, Pen/O’Henry Awards and a story was a finalist in the “So To Speak” Fiction Contest. She is working on two collections of short stories while shopping for a publisher for a completed story collection. Learn more at www.janbowmanwriter.com or



Friday, April 12, 2013

Entry # 146 - "More Thoughts on ReReading Alice Munro's Selected Stories"

More Thoughts on Alice Munro’s Selected Stories
Munro says in this introduction and numerous essays that she doesn’t necessary start writing or reading a story from beginning to end. She says that she often starts anywhere and might read or write a story either backward or forward in an effort to see the full experience from different perspectives. And while this might sound odd to some readers and writers, I understand this search for perspective. 

I had an “Aha” moment when I first read this, because I do that too. I’ve thought about it often and recently, I mentioned to a writer friend, that I don’t necessarily start a story and work chronologically, whether I’m reading it or writing it. I find the beginning, middle, and ending as the story unfolds in multiple readings and revisions.  The center of a story burns like a white hot rock in my consciousness.  I know that a story is there - just a bit out of direct sight, but I know that a story can be elusive, until I begin to put it on the page. I read that Flannery O'Connor said that she didn't know what she had to say until she saw it on the page.
One of My Favorites.

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Alice Ann Munro is a Canadian short-story writer, the winner of the 2009 Man Booker International Prize for her lifetime body of work, a three-time winner of Canada's Governor General's Award for fiction.


About Jan Bowman

Jan Bowman’s fiction has appeared in numerous publications including, Roanoke Review, Big Muddy, The Broadkill Review, Third Wednesday, Minimus, Buffalo Spree (97), Folio, The Potomac Review and others. Glimmer Train named a recent story as Honorable Mention in the November 2012 Short Story Awards for New Writers. Winner of 2011 Roanoke Review Fiction Award, and her stories have been nominated for Pushcart Prizes, Best American Short Stories, Pen/O’Henry Awards and a story was a finalist in the “So To Speak” Fiction Contest. Another story was a recent finalist (April 2013) in the Annual Phoebe Fiction Contest. She is working on two collections of short stories while shopping for a publisher for a completed story collection. Learn more at www.janbowmanwriter.com or

Sunday, April 7, 2013

Entry # 145 - "Alice Munro's Selected Stories"

In Alice Munro’s Introduction to her Selected Stories, published in 1997 by Vintage International, Munro says, “a story is not like a road to follow; it’s more like a house.” She says “you go inside stories and stay there for a while, wandering back and forth and settling where you like, discovering how the rooms, windows, and corridors relate to each other, how the world outside is altered by being viewed from these windows.” She goes on to say that readers and writers can return to the house or story and always find more than they saw last time. 
And such is the case for this collection of selected stories compiled from previously published collections that included – Dance of the Happy Shades (1968), Something I’ve Been Meaning to Tell You (1974), The Beggar Maid (1977), The Moons of Jupiter (1977-1982), The Progress of Love (1985-1986), Friend of My Youth (1990), and Open Secrets (1994).

The stories from these earlier collections are even better upon rereading them.  These are classic Munro stories and are among my favorites – for example: Walker Brothers Cowboy, Dance of the Happy Shades, Material, Royal Beatings, Miles City, Montana, and Vandals.  All of these excellent stories are like an interesting house that leaves you with new impressions every time you visit it. Monro’s stories are complex, layered with the lightest touch, and as rich and satisfying as a novel.  Perhaps if you’re looking for a good “reread” this collection is worth the time and a second or third look.

For me a great story gets better - like an interesting house - every time you visit it.  A story deserves, even requires, multiple reading to obtain its richness.  Some readers and writers - like me - tend to be interested not only in what happened but also - how it happened.

Munro says that a house (like a story) has a “sturdy sense of itself, of being built out of its own necessity, not just to shelter or beguile you. To deliver a story like that, one that is durable and freestanding, is what I’m always hoping for.” That seems to me to be a worthy goal whether you are a reader or writer, or one who must of necessity do both in order to live well.

About Jan Bowman

Jan Bowman’s fiction has appeared in numerous publications including, Roanoke Review, Big Muddy, The Broadkill Review, Third Wednesday, Minimus, Buffalo Spree (97), Folio, The Potomac Review, Musings, Potato Eyes and others. Glimmer Train named a recent story as Honorable Mention in the November 2012 Short Story Awards for New Writers. Winner of the 2011 Roanoke Review Fiction Award, her stories have been nominated for Pushcart Prizes, Best American Short Stories, a Pen/O’Henry award and a story was a finalist in the “So To Speak” Fiction Contest. Another new story was a finalist (April 2013) in the Annual Phoebe Fiction Contest. She is working on two collections of short stories while shopping for a publisher for a completed story collection. She has nonfiction work pending publication in Trajectory and Pen-in-Hand. She writes a weekly blog of “Reflections” on the writing life and posts regular interviews with writers and publishers.   Learn more at www.janbowmanwriter.com or

Special Note:  Some postings will occur only once per week during April 2013 due to Jan's busy schedule, family visits, two major reading & writing projects, and some travel plans. She may be out of Wi-Fi contact at intervals. And she might not deal with email at that time.  "GASP!"   She said.