SpirituallyFit.com - More about the authors

More about the authors

Featured High School

CRESCENT HIGH SCHOOL: Crescent School is a K through 12 public school located on the Olympic Peninsula of Washington State in a small town called Joyce. Joyce proper features a restaurant, a century old general store, two churches and a sign on the way out of town that reads "Come Back and Re-Joyce."

Joyce is surrounded by a rich environment for writing inspiration, with forests protected by nearby Olympic National Park, the large and mysterious Lake Crescent, snow-capped mountains and a beautiful shoreline along the Strait of Juan de Fuca.

Every year, when the English III class studies the Transcendentalists, reading Emerson, Whitman and Thoreau, the students are sent out to do their own nature writing. The works featured by the students from Crescent are some of the results of this assignment.

The students of Crescent High School

HEATHER PETERS: I wrote this story after spending a day at the beach with my grandma. The assignment for my English 3 class was to write something about nature while experiencing it, but the truth is that I lived "Sea Day" first and then wrote it later from memory. (Don't tell my English teacher!)

TOBY FRANTZ: Toby is a student of Crescent High School in Joyce, Washington.

ANTHONY HERNANDEZ: When I wrote this, it was really the perfect sunset. I felt very fortunate to be there at that moment and I think that my surroundings truly did inspire my writing.

JOSEPH KUBALEK: This poem is a look at how the most basic of surroundings can be and are the essence of life.

CHRISTOPHER MAIR: I wrote this paper as an English assignment, and really enjoyed it. What better motive than a good grade to get me out on a freezing January day and spend an hour or so trudging through the woods, all the while scribbling in my notebook? The assignment was thankfully left pretty open, and I chose to write the piece in stream-of-consciousness style. The final result is what you read, edited only so that it might be a little easier to understand. It still seems a little choppy to me, but I hope you enjoy.

LARA DALTON: This was written at Salt Creek beach in Joyce, Washington for an assignment in my English class. I chose Salt Creek because it is one of the most beautiful places around.

...and their proud teacher

ERIKA THORSEN: One of greatest rewards of teaching is the opportunity to get to know so many wonderful young people and to experience the things they create. I am constantly impressed by the quality of some of their writing, their insightful ideas and their individuality. Each student brings gifts to my life in her or his own way -- through humor, compassion, creativeness or new perspectives. I truly feel blessed to have such wonderful students.

Other Olympic Peninsula writers

PATRICK LOAFMAN: Lake Cresent is a place I return to each winter in January for a winter swim, a solo polar bear dip without the media. The poem "Lake Cresent" recounts a summer swim there and mentions the "soap woman" who was murdered and thrown in the lake. They say the cold temperatures at the lake bottom made her body turn to soap.

As a wildlife biologist, I frequently drive on logging roads, through miles and miles of clearcuts. It is truly shocking how much of our public land has been clearcut and at a rate that is not sustainable. "A New Beginning" draws on scenes from these logging roads.

TIM MCNULTY: Here are three (short) poems, in one. These are in homage to Denise Levertov, a friend, teacher, and remarkable poet who died just a few years ago. As much as anyone Denise taught me to pay close attention to the small particulars of my life and to be open to the deeper meanings within them.

Regular SpirituallyFit Contributors

PATTIANN ROGERS: Opus from Space paints visions of birth so often overlooked, especially during Springtime. Pattiann is the queen of observations, noticing the witch hazel pod, hairy saltcedar seed, and the struggle of insects raging to be hatched and be free. It's easy to imagine Pattiann crawling on her belly observing the busy world of the forest floor, with intrigue and child-like wonder, where many of us stomp by without giving a second thought to the worlds within worlds she describes for us. Pattiann reminds us of the honor it is to be born...and to be alive.

DEEPAK CHOPRA: Embrace the unknown reminds us to appreciate and be mindful of what many of us fear: the unknown. Attempting to control our lives we can miss the gift of knowledge and wisdom the unknown brings to us. The unknown is surprise, greater than our imaginings and delight. "God lives in the unknown, and when you can embrace it fully, you will be home free."

Thank you Deepak for your support of our webzine. Namaste.