My neighbor Dan Brady and his wife Wendy Wolters are moving today. We have been living eight blocks away from each other for six years. Dan and Wendy are both poets. We first met at the Sacred Grounds.
Dan and I like to get together at times to do writing exercises. He is a school teacher so has all kinds of tricks up his sleeves. My brain ached after my first outing with him, having to manipulate a given set of words and using them in a poem. Since then the writing days have been much more enjoyable and fun. One time we went to three different cafes for breakfast, lunch and snacks before putting down our pens on paper.
Sometimes I feel like getting stuck in one place doing the same things every day. Sometimes I feel the wind of fate blowing and recognize the subtle changes in life. Dan took care of my cats when my son was in the hospital. We share rides. He was one of the volunteers who helped in rebuilding the park playground near my house. We had organized many Poets with Trees events, bringing poetry to Sutro and McLaren parks. Now he and Wendy will be settling in a different part of the city. Even though I’ll still see them at readings, I can’t help but feel nostalgic at the good times we had as neighbors.
