THE WORKSHOPS...WHAT IT IS AIN'T EXACTLY CLEAR

On Saturday and Sunday mornings there was a choice of about six workshops, any of which would have been interesting. I hate that, when you want to be three places at once. As the conference was focused on getting vets and resisters together, or no, it was resisters and the Canadians who assisted them, as well as on peace, the workshops revolved around issues related to these things. I chose to go to one facilitated by Earl Hamilton, long time high school English teacher (my son loved him as a teacher) of Nelson, that focused on popular songs of the era and how they depicted war.

Earl played his guitar and banjo, and the other guitar was one of the fellows in the Elmer Creek Conspiracy from the East Kootenay. I got their CD, 'America in Denial'. Blogging etiquette...if you're going to blog about people, get their names...point taken, and I apologize to Tom, Les, and Len: one of you was there but I'm not sure who.

"War Resisters Music Circle" was the title of the workshop, and that's what we did; sang old war-related songs like Where Have All the Flowers Gone and Ohio and One Tin Soldier and more. My vocal cords felt it afterwards, but it sure was fun. I'd forgotten how much I like to sing.

On Sunday there was a Poetry workshop. Finally, a reason for all this to be in this blog! Roger Davies, who lives in Nova Scotia now, brought booklets of Vietnam war-related poetry, including translations of some by both North and South Vietnamese writers. How is it that we humans are all the same, really, yet have such a time of it trying to get along. If we even bother trying...

We read some poems aloud, Roger read one of his poems and I read a couple of mine, one of which Roger really liked so I sent him a copy. I want to submit it somewhere, so I'm not posting it here right now.