by Adam
My first trip to San Antonio has been a successful and exciting one. Though brief, it’s set the stage for our meeting in September. The meeting rooms have been selected, lunch arrangements made, and a rough schedule is confirmed so that it flows from one event to the next. I’ve even picked out which chair I can sit in as guests arrive at the St. Anthony Hotel. It’s deep and comfortable, ornamented with brass handles shaped like swans. It’s next to three others — so there’s room for you, too. We can sit and look out onto the street as people begin to arrive.
Even as I wait in this airport gate getting ready to head back home, and as John is already in flight, the fun is now underway. I’m charmed by all the possibilities. These all start with imagining people arriving, welcoming them to the reception as they walk past the piano and into the warm room surrounded by dark wood panels and filled with friends and fellow attendees. There’s the hall where we kick things off the next morning, and the small, comfortable rooms where all the incubator sessions take place. This framework awaits, and for now I’m left to wonder about details, if Naomi Shihab Nye (our guest poet on Monday evening) should stand or sit; and if we’d like pastries or fruit during a morning break.
The big piece that needs to be filled in now is you. Mark your calendars for September 25th, and start pecking away at proposals. Until then, imagine that I’m just sitting at the St. Anthony, patiently, in this comfy chair with the brass handles.
