Dear Friends ~

I am thrilled to the bones to announce the Wissahickon Writing Circles have found a new home in the Park. Effective immediately, our Thursday Circles gather at the Wissahickon Environmental Center (WEC), known informally as The Tree House. Friday Circles will continue in my kitchen in East Mt. Airy. The Cedars House Cafe´ and the outdoor pavilion across the way have been nurturing homes for the Wissahickon Circles these past two years, but, alas, the Café plans to transform the private room we have been using into a gleefully anticipated ice-cream store and window!  Since the outdoor pavilion works well for writing only when the weather is mild, I set my sights on finding a new Wissahickon meeting place this Fall. I didn’t have to look far.

The porch of the Wissahickon Environmental Center is a wonderful place for writing and listening.

The WEC, located in the Andorra section of the Wissahickon Park, is just up the gravel road that starts at The Cedars House. Named for the giant sycamore tree that once grew through the porch of the century old farm house, The Tree House has been educating children and their families for over thirty years. Our oldest son Gabriel and I were among the earliest participants in Tree House programs. I fondly remember magical excursions up the steep hill to count birds in “The Meadow,” as  well as treks through the woods studying flora and fauna (and oh those beech trees!) with naturalist Sioux Baldwin. Returning to The Tree House decades later, with the writing circles, is a sweet homecoming.

Would you like to join us this Fall?  See the Upcoming Events on this page for dates, times and fees of the “Wissahickon Thursday” and “Mt Airy Friday” Circles.

You may read more about the Writing Circles here.

As always, call or email me with questions or concerns. Susan@susanwindle.com, 215-247-5545.

I leave you with a poem and a picture, from The Meadow herself:

When a Meadow

a field protected, allowed
to grow as she will
without mower or plow,
when such a place summons
you must go.
Climb the wooded hillside
which she crowns
in the full glory of her grasses.
You must meet them waving
long, green, tipped
with purple, streaked
with morning light.

Let the meadow
give you what you need.

What is it you need?
If you had words for it…

Shhhh…hear the wrens
chatter from their chosen log

Mmmm…cicadas
in their mounting song

Ahhh…stirs the breeze
who greets you where you stand

well met and breathing in
this circle of trees.

Andorra Meadow, September 2017

Andorra Meadow, September Morning by Susan Windle

Breathing in the trees,I am

Yours with love~

Susan