Post #39 – Memoir Writing, Journaling – Matilda Butler and Kendra Bonnett
Building our Journey: One Memoir Vignette at a Time
Kendra and I are on a 7 day journey to celebrate the approach of her 60th birthday and we invite you to travel along with us. I feel like I should call today: Treats and Treasures, Treasures and Treats. So many wondrous sights to take in. Since we worked late last night, we agreed to meet for breakfast at 8:30. That was the time to figure out if we could possibly squeeze the two unseen sights from yesterday into today’s schedule. Of course, as you can imagine, we decided to give it a try.
As you guessed from yesterday’s hint, we visited Norman Rockwell’s studio and museum. Kendra and I were inspired by what we saw and learned there. You’ll be hearing more about that in the future. We also went to Daniel Chester French’s home and studio at Chesterwood. If you don’t know the name, French is the sculptor of the Lincoln in the Lincoln Monument, The Minute Man, which stands at the Concord bridge, and many other pieces. Then in the afternoon we saw Ventford Hall and Museum of the Gilded Age.
But this evening, I just want to quickly mention the second true highlight of the day. Writers can’t (and shouldn’t) pass by the Berkshires without stopping at The Mount, the home designed by Edith Wharton. It happens that “The Boston Globe” published an opinion piece about the place a few days ago so I was even more intrigued to go inside. Because of the article, I knew that Wharton’s first book, The Decoration of House, was done in collaboration with her architect friend Ogden Codman. The piece went on to describe the house as if it were a character being partly extroverted and partly introverted that enabled Wharton to have space for the entertaining that she loved and space for privacy that she needed for writing.
Wharton fell in love with the Berkshires and purchased a 130 acre property in 1902 in Lenox, Massachusetts. The home was built quickly and Wharton said:
Lenox has had its usual tonic effect on me, & I feel like a new edition, revised & corrected . . . in the very best type. It is great fun out at the place, now too – as everything is pushing up new shoots – not only cabbages & strawberries, but electric lights & plumbing. I really think we shall be installed – after a fashion – by Sept. 1st.
I loved that she thought of the process of designing and building a home in a way that compared it to writing. And write she did once she moved in. It was in The Mount that she wrote The House of Mirth, five other novels and 3 non-fiction books. Eventually, she wrote 40 books in 40 years. Unfortunately, she only lived in The Mount for 10 years as her husband’s mental health deteriorated and she divorced him.
Who Writes in Her Bed?
Since we were visiting Edith Wharton’s home, you can safely guess that she wrote while sitting up in bed. But who else? Here’s a little secret. Kendra also writes while in bed. Especially, during the long, cold Maine winters, Kendra finds sitting in bed with her computer on her lap and her cats nearby to be much warmer than going downstairs to work.
As you know, I promised one photo per day. Kendra and I hoped to have our picture made standing by Wharton’s desk. However, when we found out that all the photos of Wharton sitting at her desk were just done for the sake of the journalists, we decided to have our picture taken in her boudoir.
Our brochure said:
Only five percent of National Historic Landmarks are dedicated to women, and The Mount is one of them. Like Jefferson’s Monticello, it is an autobiographical house, one that definitely embodies its creator’s spirit.
Memoir Writing Prompt:
1. If you turned your home into a museum, what would visitors learn about you? In other words, how is your spirit shown in your home?
Join us tomorrow as we continue with Day 3 of our journaling our way to Kendra’s birthday.
You may also be interested in:
Journaling Our Way to Kendra’s Birthday: Day 1
Here’s the complete set of journaling posts:
Journaling Our Way to Kendra’s Birthday: Day 1
Journaling Our Way to Kendra’s Birthday: Day 2
Journaling Our Way to Kendra’s Birthday: Day 3
Journaling Our Way to Kendra’s Birthday: Day 4
Journaling Our Way to Kendra’s Birthday: Day 5
Journaling Our Way to Kendra’s Birthday: Day 6
Journaling Our Way to Kendra’s Birthday: Day 7
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