Sweet Bear Hugs

In some sunnier news, the Idaho Statesman recently published my second Reader’s View opinion piece. Funny synchronicity too, the evening this went to press, I encountered two thick-furred black bear cubs that jutted out in front of my truck on Broadford Road.

http://www.idahostatesman.com/opinion/story/931501.html

My first Reader’s View in the Statesman ran last summer. That one was about how the safety benefits of a cell tower at Galena, far outweigh its appearance.

A Reader’s View is different from a letter to the editor, in the sense that you get to complain longer. Usually for about 600 words or so. I think if you blather on much longer than that, then the reader’s interest quickly wanes. Thus, the popularity of so many stories of that size, on the web.

A friend offered some valuable feedback, which I think will fit better in the comments section, so I will post his feedback there. As well as this piece seemed to come out, I think I can improve it more, and then perhaps submit to High Country News or some such place. I try to be careful about promising that I’m ‘gunna’ do such a thing; because then it seems to take power away from the effort, almost as if you’ve tricked yourself into believing that you’ve already done it, just because you said you were going to do it. Ran Prier recently linked into an in depth story about this phenomena, which I believe ran on an anthropology website. I searched for it again recently, but could not find. Now, I feel I’m gunna have difficulty finding it again.

During the rewriting process, most dedicated writers have probably experienced a certain flow, which makes them feels as though they are getting closer to the goal of what they really mean to say. I remember trying to convey this to the poet and purple mermaid expert Darcie Chace; how sometimes poets and singers have pieces that shift form and how it’s possible to enjoy this merry rewriting process.