Ray Bassett of Scenic Roots recently interviewed representatives of the Main Street Farmers Market  and Crabtree Farms to learn how they have become innovative to continue doing business during the pandemic. Are farmers taking orders online? You bet. Scenic Roots is a production of WUTC, 88.1 FM.

​It is heartening to see continued innovation from Barking Legs Theater. They recently moved a dance performance outdoors with Drive in Dances. Richard Winham of WUTC 88.1 FM broadcast music for the Drive in Dances program so the audience could listen from their vehicles as their headlights illuminated the performance. He has also been airing recorded presentations of Wednesday Night Jazz.

Also from Barking Legs Theater, Marcus Patrick Ellsworth’s show, The Floor is Yours will resume online presentations Friday, May 22. Wednesday Night Jazz continues with online programming.

Arts and Letters is now accepting entries for their Unclassifiable Contest. This is a chance for authors to submit entries that do not fit the traditional genres of prose and poetry.

The Sun magazine has opened their archives and full access to the current issue during the pandemic

The Tennessee River Gorge Trust will present a virtual experience of Another Gorgeous Evening, July 13 and 20. In their own words, these two events will feature mixology lessons from our cocktail experts along with a food tutorial and online silent auction. Then, enjoy your cocktail and dinner while listening to live music from Ben Friberg and Dave Schwab. We hope you will join us for a fun evening while also learning more about TRGT’s amazing work in the Tennessee River Gorge!

Laura Marsh will give another online presentation of her Bird Watching from your Couch program through The Chattery on May 23. This time, a portion of the proceeds will benefit the Chattanooga Audubon Society.

Bees on a Bicycle, Chattanooga’s southside gardening center has announced summer hours, 1 - 4 PM Friday
through Sunday. They will also continue to offer online shopping and curbside pickup.  

A spring cleanup of Chickamauga Mound will take place Saturday, May 23 at 8:30 PM. The mound is the last vestige of a large prehistoric site near Amnicola Highway in Chattanooga.  Bring water and come prepared to work.

The Tennessee Aquarium continues to offer virtual experiences of their exhibits.

National Geographic has a virtual tour of the Great Barrier Reef.

There is still time to enter the Chattanooga Audubon Society’s 2020 photography contest. Twelve nature photographs will be featured in a specially produced calendar and the Grand Prize winner receives a cash award.

The spring contest of the Chattanooga Writers’ Guild offers cash prizes in six categories. Early Bird entry fees remain in effect through the end of May.

Winter constellations are leaving the sky as the summer triangle returns. The triangle includes Deneb in Cygnus (The Swan), Altair in Aquila (The Eagle), and Vega in Lyra (The Harp of Orpheus). Get daily updates on the Night Sky from the Earth and Sky newsletter. The StarDate podcast also offers daily astronomy information. If astronomical photographs are more interesting, check out the Astronomy Picture of the Day. Local information is available from the Barnard Astronomical Society.

The Chattanooga Pulse updates their online edition daily, Check back regularly for news, arts, and a calendar of events.
American Diversity Report has released their most recent issue with articles and poetry, including a recent article on prospects for reopening.
For outdoor adventure opportunities, look at Get Out Chattanooga, a magazine from the Chattanooga Times-Free Press and now available as an email newsletter.

Kennedy Creek Resort near Helen, Georgia will offer a writing retreat on June 25-28.
The Chattanooga Public Library offers online programming on their Facebook page.
Shameless Self Promotion

Two of Ray Zimmerman’s works appear in the current issue of Catalpa magazine. One is a poem titled “Driving to New Hope.” The other is a hard to classify piece titled “Late August Collage.”
This edition also includes a feature on Chattanooga artist Jody Harris, interviewed by Cynthia Robinson Young. Many other fine features and poems appear in Catalpa.

Reviews

Bright Wings by Billy Collins (Editor) and David Allen Sibley (Illustrator)
This book could not help but be a lovely addition to my personal library, with editing by a former Poet Laureate of the United States and Illustrations by the author of one of America’s most popular birding guides. Collins has worked hard to popularize poetry, especially during his two-year tenure as Poet Laureate. He is also a birdwatcher, judging from his poem “Osprey” (published elsewhere).

The order of poems and illustrations follows the order in Sibley’s guide, beginning with Common Loon, and ending with three poems about the American Goldfinch. The collection does not include every bird seen in North America, but each illustration has a brief descriptive paragraph by Sibley, as well as one or more poems. The illustrations show primarily male birds in breeding plumage, though the Belted Kingfisher has the bright red belly band of a female bird. Notably, the Belted Kingfisher is one of the few bird species in which the female is more colorful than the male.

I would not attempt to use the book as a field guide, but it is a thoroughly enjoyable read, potentially introducing novices to birds and new readers to poetry.

Each copy of this edition is individually addressed, so rest assured, you have not been added to my mailing list.  Past issues are archived on my web page which also hosts an opportunity to subscribe to future issues, distributed by Mail Chimp and with a safe unsubscribe option. https://rayzimmermanauthor.com

Opportunities and Announcements

Chattanooga’s Barking Legs Theater will offer Drive in Dances May 16, with accompanying music broadcast by Dr. Richard Winham. Tickets for this production are advance sale only. The audience will watch from their cars and tune their radios to WUTC 88.1 FM to hear accompaniment. Wednesday Jazz continues as a weekly online presentation. The Floor is Yours, virtual open mic, will be on hiatus until May 22.

It is a pleasure to see the South Cumberland State Park reopening, This park is a gem in our state park system and the Friends of South Cumberland State Park are instrumental in maintaining and promoting this unique natural area. The friends have also created the Mack S, Prichard Legacy Project, conserving a record of Prichard’s lifelong work as a Tennessee conservationist. Those of you who never met Mack missed a fabulous learning opportunity. He passed over a few weeks back.

Rattle Poetry now offers three live streamed programs. Rattlecast is part interview and part reading with a prompt based open mic, offered Tuesdays at 9 PM ET. Rattle also offers a virtual open mic broadcast, “Poets Respond Live,” Sundays at 12:00 pm.  Their Critique of the Week series allows participants to give online critiques of submitted work, Fridays at 5 PM. See past episodes of these events on Rattle’s YouTube channel.

Crabtree Farms continues to promote locally grown produce from their own property and from other area farms. Their educational programs and events are on hiatus, but they are expected to reopen soon. Check their website for information about produce purchases at the farm

The Chattanooga Pulse publishes their online edition each Wednesday. The arts section for this week features Marcus Patrick Ellsworth, empresario of The Floor is Yours. With skilled interviewer Jenn Webster, he discusses the transition from live to virtual performance during the isolation of Covid-19. The online presentations have included links to “virtual tip jars,” for artists dependent on performance revenue to generate some income

A Tampa newspaper asked citizens to respond to the pandemic with Haiku. Check upcoming issues for published responses.

The Sequatchie Valley Institute and Liquidambar Art Gallery remain closed for the time being, Over the years, they have offered demonstrations of innovative construction and food production. Check their web for an announcement of reopening later this year.

Pink Noise, a poetic podcast, includes work by Tennessee poet Kelly Hanwright, reading from her upcoming book, The Locust Years. Tune in for poetry and life from numerous authors.

Sustainable energy and building practices remain at the heart of the mission of the Chattanooga organization Greenspaces. Visit their web site for full information about events and ongoing programs.

Get a weekly set of writing prompts from our Nashville friends, The Porch Writers Collective. They also offer on-line workshops this year. Future offerings will likely return to in person meetings. 

“Healing the earth, one yard at a time” remains the mission of The Wild Ones with their focus on native plants. Their certification program includes both breadth and depth knowledge on the topics of native plants, invasive plants, and landscaping in harmony with nature.

Support for local artists during the pandemic was forthcoming from Arts Build (formerly Allied Arts). Their assistance helped to sustain 88 authors during the pandemic. Their mission to provide arts leadership for Chattanooga and arts instruction in the schools continues. Soundcorps, an affiliated organization, has links to
services and emergency resources for musicians during Covid -19

Tennessee River Rescue continues to coordinate a volunteer effort to get trash off the banks and out of the river. On the first Saturday of each October, hundreds of volunteers remove thousands of pounds of trash that would otherwise become hazards not only to wildlife, but also to recreational water users and to navigation. Consider volunteering this year.

The Chattanooga Writers Guild offers their Spring Writing Contest with cash awards and publication in their anthology. In addition to the traditional categories of fiction, poetry, and nonfiction, they have added three categories for writing specifically about Chattanooga this year.

The Chattanooga Audubon Society has announced their 2020 Photo Contest. The submission fee is $10, and photographers may include up to 3 photographs per submission. The is no limit to the number of submissions and individual may make, but the fee is $10 per submission. Photos must be taken within 40 miles of Maclellan Island, a CAS property.

The Chattery offers practical workshops for people with a wide range of interest. Recent topics have ranged from “Bird Watching from your Couch” to “Building a Road Map to your Dream Home.” Currently limited to online workshops, they plan a return to workshops conducted in person at their facility.

Shameless Self Promotion

The Chattanooga Pulse recently published Ray’s article, “From Page to Screen, Casper Cox Searches for Hidden Rivers.”

Ray Zimmerman’s lyric essay, “Late August Collage,” and a poem, “Driving to New Hope,” will appear in the upcoming edition of Catalpa, a magazine of Southern perspective. The new edition is anticipated within three weeks. There will also be a limited print edition.

Reviews

Family Stories Elegantly Told

In her recent chap book, Migration, Poet Cynthia Robinson Young presents eight generations of family in this elegant collection. She begins the story with Egururu, born of parents brought from Africa on a slave ship by a merchant she calls Charon, giving him the Greek name of the boatman who ferried the dead to Hades, land of an ancient god who shared its name. Egururu kept her name secretly but was known as Charity to the master and slave traders.


From that beginning, the poet memorializes a lineage of ancestors through years of slavery, emancipation, Jim Crowe laws and flight to northern cities. I almost said survived those years, but some of those ancestor’s lives were cut short by mobs. The poet herself is proof that her family survived.

The stories continue, though story seems a poor word for these heroic verses. The poet speaks of her parents and the death of her father. She tells us of her resolve to keep their stories alive. We witness a visit by her deceased mother who speaks in conversation:
Why did you come back?
“To tell you not to worry.”
Why did you come back?
“Because I didn’t want to leave.”
Like the poet’s mother, the reader lucky enough to have a copy of these verses will want to return to this slim volume again and again.
 
Fiery Gizzard, Voices from the Wilderness by Mary Patten Priestly
 
This unique book blends history and natural history to tell the story of the Fiery Gizzard, now a part of South Cumberland State Park. The Author edits The Plant Press, newsletter of the Sewanee Herbarium, so the emphasis on native plants and botanical rarities is not surprising.
She also reveals the geologic history of “the Giz” and speaks somewhat of the fauna, but her real story is one of people.
 
From Bartrum and other early explorers, to modern day naturalists, artists, and citizens, Priestly explains why these people found the Fiery Gizzard an important place, and sought to live nearby and, eventually, to preserve it as a park for future generations.

This short book is an easy read but fascinating for anyone interested in conservation or the outdoors.
 

Announcements

The Chattanooga Audubon Society continues to offer their nature photography contest. Details on how to submit work appear on their website. Entry fee is $10 for three digital photos. Twelve winning photos will appear on their calendar

The Chattanooga Writer’s Guild continues to offer their Spring Contest for area writers. Contestants may contribute in six categories, three of which are specific to Chattanooga. Look to their web site for guidelines, deadlines, and prize information. contest.html

Barking Legs Theatre continues to offer online versions of the Wednesday Jazz Online program and The Floor is Yours each Friday. Poets, Musicians, Dancers, and Performance Artists are encouraged to submit videos of their work, with virtual tip jar information for inclusion in The Floor is Yours. Past performances are available on their Facebook Page.

The Chattanooga Pulse continues to publish their online edition, released each Wednesday. Check out the Local News page.

The Cornell Laboratory of Ornithology offers online bird identification classes through their Bird Academy. Courses range from beginning to advanced.  They also have several live Bird Cams for a virtual look at the world of birds.

Winning Writers has announced the North Street Book Prize, for recently self-published books. First place prizes in several categories are $1,000 each. They will also award one Grand Prize of $5,000. 
Boulevard, a literary magazine has released a podcast with excerpts of their spring issue. The print edition includes winning poems and essays from their recent contests. Details on submitting work for review and on rate of pay are available.

Send information on your events to Ray Zimmerman. Ray also edits the Chattanooga Chat, a newsletter that is “for the birds.”

Review
The art of Haiku by Stephen Addiss

If you enjoy short poems or delightful visual art, this book is for you. It was my first introduction to haiga, visual art specifically created to accompany haiku.
 
Addiss illustrates his work liberally with exemplary poems and samples of visual works created to accompany them, stressing the point that they were created to be enjoyed together.
 
He traces the history of short form poetry in Japanese society, beginning with Tanka, a five-line form poem popular early in the previous millennium and continued into the present day. He contrasts it with the Chinese style poetry which was popular in the imperial court.
 
He follows this with biographies of the three acknowledged masters of Haiku and Haibun: Basho (17th century), Buson (18h century) and Issa (19th century). The chapters on these three include illustrations of their artwork, as do the sections on Zen poets and early 20th century haiku poets.
 
He ends the work at World War II, stating that Haiku has since become a world-wide phenomenon, and a description of it in recent years would fill another book. I found it a delightful read but would like to see some contemporary examples of haiga.
 
A Poem
The Paragon Press originally published this poem in their online journal Anapest.
A Chattanooga Lookout
Ray Zimmerman
 
The Lookouts got their first shot at fame,
A New York Yankees Exhibition game.
 
They signed Jackie Mitchell, a publicity stunt,
but she pitched like a pro, not some sorry runt.
 
The starter gave up a hit and a double.
They sent Jackie in to heal this trouble.
 
She struck out Babe Ruth, third up to bat.
She stuck out Lou Gehrig, imagine that.
 
Lazzeri she walked, put a third man on base.
The manager pulled her just to save face.
 
The commissioner said that she had to go.
Should women play baseball? He just said no.
 
But Jackie achieved House of David fame.
That barnstorming team won many a game.
 
The men all wore beards and long hair to boot.
She donned a fake beard, thought it was a hoot.
 
She wasn’t afraid of a publicity stunt,
but she pitched like a pro, not some sorry runt.