There’s so much more to share about San Miguel and the writers’ conference, but since I couldn’t photograph synapses firing, here’s a bit more San Miguel beauty. One afternoon, I passed by here on my way from el centro back to the hotel, and a man was misting these flowers.

I was startled enough to say, ¿Las flores son reales? Yes, this garland is made of real flowers. And yes, I managed an intelligible question in Spanish with the correct noun gender. Just two of many delightful surprises that week.

A bit more of La Parroquia and other random gorgeousness:

There was also plenty of fun: mariachi bands and these giant papier-mâché puppets, called mojigangas, which you’ll see all over town used in various celebrations.

Back at the hotel, this bar served delicious guacamole and mango margaritas after toasty in-town wanderings.

There’s another bar in the back garden.

I promise it wasn’t all margaritas and fiestas. I loved all the workshops and took pages and pages of notes. It felt like one of the beautiful San Miguel doors opening onto a whole new world.

Here are just a few highlights:

• Ellen Urbani – “How to Not Get Murdered by Your Family and Friends When Writing Memoir,” which offered tips beyond this great Ann Lamott quote: “If people wanted you to write warmly about them, they should have behaved better.” Ellen also taught “Everyone Hates a Vacation Slideshow.” Still working on that info! Check our her website.* I especially recommend her essays on walking the Camino.
• Lori Horvitz – “Short, Sharp, True – Flash Memoir,” about sharing the flash of insight with fewer words. David would have loved me learning to get to the point, already! 😉
• Robert Falls, Tony-award-winning director – “The Actor’s Toolkit for Fiction and Memoir Writers” He took us through a series of visualizations, and I was stunned by how one-sentence, imagined scenarios affected my heart rate, my breathing, the feeling in my fingers, my gut. The trick is to use this new awareness in descriptions without cliché.
• Ann Hood – “Writing Memoir: How to Find the Story You Want to Tell” – Too many great bits to pick one quote, but this one has the most potential to change my life. I was so inspired by the entire conference and Ann’s workshop, that I’ve applied to the low-residency MFA in creative writing that she created and directs. I won’t know if I’ve been accepted for a few more weeks, so I’ll have to let you know. Either way, I have plenty to work on, but I’m hungry to learn more from her and others in the program.

*Click on any of these names for more.

I’ll close with this delicately lovely sculpture spotted on a super-photogenic street I hadn’t known was within blocks of my hotel until I was in the shuttle on the way back to Mexico City for my flight. We had just picked up the last rider, and I glanced out the open door just before the driver slid it shut.

Wow. It felt like a parting gift from lovely San Miguel. I begged the driver to wait a second for me to snap this photo. Here’s wishing you lifelong learning, as well as sublime surprises and patient shuttle drivers along the way.

Grace and peace to you, as always.