Writer’s Treat

            Every first and third Thursday, I join several other writers, want-to-be writers, and those who write for themselves at the Mt. Pleasant library. It isn’t a large group, but it does have some impact on the community. Several times a year, the members are challenged to write a short piece for some of the holidays and put them on display. We have done writing to celebrate Christmas and one to create a story over a photo of our choice. The photographs were donated to the library and were unnamed, unmarked, and the people and places unknown. My choice was a pile of collected objects for a scrap metal collection drive in WW II. The reason this picture caught my eye was the small flag that someone placed there for the photo.

            Our next project will be to write a Halloween story and after that, our annual Christmas story. The outreach into the community has been noticed by the library staff. They told us that they see an increase of traffic when we put out our display.

            In our small group there have been at least five people who were able to get their works published, from historical, bizarre, and science fiction to poetry, cozy mysteries, and children stories. Our group has wide interests. Dr. Fred Adams is our facilitator and gives a short “lesson” at the beginning of each meeting. He will bring something to help our writing, something to introduce us to another genre, or something to sharpen our skills.

            The “dessert” of the writers meeting treat is that we offer those present to go out for a bite to eat afterwards. Last night we ate at McCali Tavern. A chance to eat out and not have to cook is a treat at anytime. I ordered a spring salad and a steak. The steak was grilled and flavored wonderfully. And it wasn’t damaging to my blood sugar which was 112 today.

            Other nights we have eaten at Applebee’s. The food is good there, but since they remodeled, the atmosphere has changed, and they keep it much too cold. If I am cold, it is too cold and several of the people are older than I am. It seems that they have tried to remake it into a sports bar, instead of a family restaurant. That is discouraging. There are enough bars in Mt. Pleasant, without their change.