Help! Writer's Block

Margot Sullivan is a part-time reader's advisory and reference librarian at the Morrill Memorial Library. Read her column as published in the October 29, 2015 edition of the Norwood Transcript and Bulletin.

     This past summer I vowed to begin writing a story that has been swirling around in my head for years!  I was on my favorite Maine island where creativity abounds with artists, writers, poets, and craft persons.  Since I just cannot seem to get going I asked some friends “when do you write?” and received a variety of answers. One poet starts her day with her coffee and just jots down anything that comes to mind. A children’s author sets aside some time each day but also admitted to having a book idea hanging around for years.  I even went to one session of a creative writing course in the library.    I actually started the story and reviewed some of the letters, photos, and clippings I might use! I did not write a whole lot but liked what I wrote. It is fiction, maybe a mystery, and takes place in Maine! But I have come to a complete halt.  I have not figured out how to go forward!

Bewitched by the City of Salem

Charlotte Canelli is the library director of the Morrill Memorial Library in Norwood, Massachusetts. Read Charlotte's column in the October 22, 2015 edition of the Norwood Transcript and Bulletin.

This past summer, Gerry and I were very happy guests at a wedding in Salem, Massachusetts. It was a gorgeous weekend. A large tent overlooked Hawthorne Cove and the Salem Harbor beyond to the east. The lucky couple hosted their wedding day reception at the House of Seven Gables The water sparkled with hundreds of sailboats. One of those boats was the venue of the actual marriage ceremony where the bride and groom tied a nautical knot in an intimate gathering of six.

Cranberries: Fruit of the Bog

Charlotte Canelli is the library director of the Morrill Memorial Library in Norwood, Massachusetts. Read Charlotte's column in the October 15, 2015 edition of the Norwood Transcript and Bulletin.

Cranberries. They are an odd fruit, aren’t they? Essentially, they must be cooked, dried, or juiced to be palatable.

The berries grow on low evergreen shrubs that creep along the ground. Because they grow in bogs, they are often inaccessible to the wanderer. But they aren’t a berry that we often think about picking as we casually walk or hike New England trails. If we did, as a matter of fact, we’d be sorely disappointed. Even when their skins are richly red, and they are bursting with plumpness, they aren’t a very good snack. It’s interesting that such a tart, acidic, nearly-bitter, strangely-textured fruit could be one of America’s favorites.

That said – cranberries conjure thoughts of holidays, family and sweets. In their raw form, they adorn our wreaths and are strung on holiday trees. In their cooked form, they are America’s accompaniment to our Thanksgiving and Christmas feasts. Juiced, they make up some pretty tasty concoctions like the delicious Scarlett O’Hara and a refreshing Cape Codder.

The Best Books You've Never Read

Liz Reed is the Adult and Information Services Librarian at the Morrill Memorial Library in Norwood, Massachusetts. Read Liz's column in the October 8, 2015 edition of the Norwood Transcript and Bulletin.

Scene: your coworker/friend/family member gushes on about how much they just loved this new bestseller. It was just the best book of the last decade and you absolutely have to read it – why haven’t you read it yet? You’re missing out!

Intrigued, you’re finally able lay your hands on a copy and after you’ve slogged your way through it, you wonder what all the hype was about. We’ve all had this experience of being disappointed by books on the bestseller list, books that are raved about by our coworkers/friends/family members, who we know to otherwise be of sound mind and good taste. This can even happen with award-winning books: these Award-Winners are apparently paragons of prose and literary theory, are radical in their choice of subject matter, but some of these titles really make you wonder how they could ever have won an award (“Catcher in the Rye,” I’m looking at you). You read them and just think, “Meh.”

A Dedicated Fan

Nancy Ling is an Outreach Librarian at the Morrill Memorial Library. Read the published version of Nancy Ling's column in the October 1, 2015 edition of the Norwood Transcript and Bulletin.

Recently I discovered a book that had been withdrawn from our library’s collection. Brady, Brady, Brady was written by Sherwood and Lloyd J. Schwartz, the co-producers of the hit television series The Brady Bunch. I grabbed it from the recycle bin—a found treasure. This was a piece of my childhood.

Along with many other kids growing up in the seventies, I was a dedicated fan of the show. After all who doesn’t remember the episode when Jan Brady cried out “Marcia, Marcia, Marcia,” having had enough of her sister being the center of attention? And I couldn’t have been the only girl who oo’ed and ahh’d over Greg Brady when he auditioned to be the singer Johnny Bravo, could I? {!--more-->

When my own kids were old enough, I checked out the Brady Bunch series from the library… and then (confession), I purchased a set of our own to have on hand. Turns out my girls loved the show. Granted they couldn’t relate to the “groovy” hairstyles and outfits, but the overarching themes resonated with a new generation.

All of this got me thinking about what it means to be a fan. Most of us have someone whom we admire, whether a sports figure or a singer, a politician (could happen) or a Hollywood star. Often we’re intrigued by those who are famous, or slightly “out of reach.” According to the dictionary however, a fan is “a person who is very enthusiastic about someone or something.” You could be a fan of your grandmother or your local librarian (hint, hint). It doesn’t have to be someone famous.

In a Jam

Charlotte Canelli is the library director of the Morrill Memorial Library in Norwood, Massachusetts. Read Charlotte's column in the September 24, 2015 edition of the Norwood Transcript and Bulletin.

It’s that time of year again. The days are warm and the nights are cool and thoughts of a steamy kitchen full of ripe tomatoes, peaches, apples, spices, herbs, and glass canning jars can be comforting. Years ago I bought Gravenstein apples by the bushel to make homemade applesauce and Roma tomatoes by the box to make sauces. I relied on my trusty Ball canning jar insert literature and my Better Homes and Gardens canning and preserving recipe books. I also relied on my time as an at-home mom.

Full S.T.E.A.M Ahead in the Children's Room

Read Kate Tigue's column in the September 17, 2015 edition of the Norwood Transcript and Bulletin. Kate is a Children's Librarian at the Morrill Memorial Library.

The Morrill Memorial Library is proud to announce that our Children’s Department has won a Full STEAM Ahead LSTA (Library Services and Technology Association) Grant from the Mass. Board of Library Commissioners and the Institute for Museum and Library Services (IMLS). This grant will allow us to implement STEAM programming for children at the preschool level. We will also install a new science station in our Children’s Room and well as some other permanent STEAM related areas in the library.

The Food Allergy Family

Read Nicole Guerra-Coon's column in the September 10, 2015 edition of the Norwood Transcript and Bulletin. Nicole is a part-time Reference and Children's Library Librarian at the Morrill Memorial Library.

What do you think of when I say, “Food allergies”?

Maybe you think they are like seasonal allergies, where there is discomfort, a stomach ache, and maybe some coughing and sneezing.

Not So Required Reading

Read Alli Palmgren's column in the September 3, 2015 edition of the Norwood Transcript and Bulletin. Alli is the Technology Librarian at the Morrill Memorial Library.

As another school year begins and I start to see the St. Catherine’s students trickle in each afternoon to get a jump on their homework, I am hit by a familiar pang of jealousy. They have no idea how much I would give to trade places with them. I love my job, I just love school too. I always have.

In high school, I managed to talk my guidance counselor and parents into granting me an exception in order to get out of having an assigned lunch or study hall so that I could take more classes...for fun. My guidance counselor looked at me like I was nuts as she signed the paperwork, but I figured I could eat between classes and do homework on the bus ride to tennis matches or in the lodge between ski races. No one can say I didn’t try to get the most out of my 13 years of public education.

Empty Nests: Rediscovering Your Own Wings

Charlotte Canelli is the library director of the Morrill Memorial Library in Norwood, Massachusetts. Read Charlotte's column in the August 27, 2015 edition of the Norwood Transcript and Bulletin.

    I will re-experience the empty nest when our grandson, Colin, leaves home for college next fall. When my nest first emptied, after my youngest daughter left for college, I was caught up in a whirlwind of  my own leavings. I had just sold our family home, was finishing graduate school, and had just begun my first full-time job in over twenty-five years. I remember swallowing my tears whole as I brought the last carload of freshmen gear into my daughter’s dorm. I successfully ignored a wrenching as the loss of everyday motherhood tore me in two. It had been biting at my heels for three years as our life as a family tore itself apart in a divorce.

Do You Believe In Magic?

Librarian April Cushing is head of Adult and Information Services at the Morrill Memorial Library. Read her column published in the March 5, 2015 issue of the Norwood Transcript & Bulletin.

It all started when my 29-year-old called in a panic asking if I had her college diploma. Having accepted a job in London, she had quit her current job, sublet her Brooklyn apartment, and applied for a visa to work abroad. Now she needed to provide proof that she had actually graduated.

I was pretty sure the document was stashed in one of the boxes of Abby’s stuff I had saved, along with multiple containers of memorabilia from my other three girls. While not exactly a hoarder, I seem to be incapable of discarding anything that might turn out to have some sentimental value during my children’s lifetimes, or possibly their descendants'. You just never know.

Up North or Down East in Maine

Charlotte Canelli is the library director of the Morrill Memorial Library in Norwood, Massachusetts. Read Charlotte's column in the August 13, 2015 edition of the Norwood Transcript and Bulletin.

    I moved away from Massachusetts as a young child and returned for a long visit at the age of 19. Here in New England as a young adult, the Boston Bruins and fried clams had me at hello. I also fell in love with a Boston boy, which I don’t entirely regret because he was the reason I returned to live in Massachusetts a year later.

    I quickly picked up New England slang and colloquiums like “packy” and “wicked” and “the Gahden.”  However, I never quite got the hang of “down Purity” or “down Zayre’s”.  It seemed a disgusting grammatical habit of my group of Bostonian relatives and friends to leave out the prepositions "to" or “at.” No one cared about my annoying complaints, though. Purity Supreme and Zayre’s eventually disappeared as they were swallowed up by competitors and the habit seemed to disappear with the 20th Century.

Wait! I Need to Finish Procrastinating

Charlotte Canelli is the library director of the Morrill Memorial Library in Norwood, Massachusetts. Read Charlotte's column in the August 6, 2015 edition of the Norwood Transcript and Bulletin.

I don’t remember exactly when I recognized one of my most annoying behavioral traits, procrastination. In all likelihood, I picked the horrid habit up as a child or teenager. It wasn’t until I was in college, however, that I truly realized it was plaguing my life.

In college, most of us seemed to fall into two camps.  There were those who had their papers stacked up in advance all semester, ready to hand in on the due date.  And, there were those of us who wait until the last day, hour, or minute. I genuinely admired the first type and identified with the second.

Hearing the Call

Nancy Ling is an Outreach Librarian at the Morrill Memorial Library. Read the published version of Nancy Ling's column in the July 30, 2015 edition of the Norwood Transcript and Bulletin.

When my oldest daughter was four year’s old she informed us that she wanted to be an ornithologist when she grew up. I’m not sure where she learned that word, probably from her favorite television show at the time, Blue’s Clues, but I do know that she loved birds from early on. Soon her little sister caught the passion too. Rather than collecting American Girl or Barbie dolls, it was the Audubon toy birds that filled our house.

You’ve probably seen these stuffed birds in a variety of stores. My girls loved to squeeze each bird’s belly to hear its individual song. As parents, we never minded the girls saving their funds in order to add the next bird to add to their collection. At least they were learning about nature while playing. More than this, the reward came when walking outdoors together. When we heard a sound like birdie birdie birdie, our girls would turn their heads, invariably one of them saying “Mama, there’s the Cardinal.”

Monkey Bars and Rope Swings Just Got Real

Liz Reed is the Adult and Information Services Librarian at the Morrill Memorial Library in Norwood, Massachusetts. Read Liz's column in the July 23, 2015 edition of the Norwood Transcript and Bulletin.

“Ah-roo!” “Ah-roo!” This is the call-and-response chant of modern day Spartans, as heard by yours truly several weeks ago in Barre, MA.  I accompanied my boyfriend to his first-ever Spartan race on a farm in Barre where he scaled greased walls, carried boulders, crawled under barbed wire, and ran about 8 miles with over 2,100 other racers. About 5,000 Spartans raced in Barre over the course of the weekend.

            Spartan Race is one form of Obstacle Course Race (OCR). Other popular OCR events include: Tough Mudder, and other mud runs; BattleFrog; CrossFit Games; Ironman; Ultraman; Peak Races; Death Race; and weekend warriors. The sport is growing in popularity so quickly that by the end of this summer, I wouldn’t be surprised to see new forms of OCR springing up. According to journalist Erin Beresini in her book about her immersion in the world of endurance racing, “Off Course: Inside the Mad, Muddy World of Obstacle Course Racing”: “Obstacle course racing is the fastest-growing sport in U.S. history. Every week, thousands of marathoners, CrossFitters, and casual weekend warriors shell out money to run through mud and fire, crawl under barbed wire, scramble over ten-foot walls, and dodge baton-wielding gladiators. They are a new wave of athlete for whom running thirteen or twenty-six miles just isn’t enough. They crave a primal challenge…”  The USA Obstacle Racing Association (www.obstacleusa.com) estimates that over 400 obstacle racing events are produced in the United States, and almost half that number are produced in other countries.