Karen Canon

But Cordeill said she lov'd him, as behoov'd:
    Whose simple answer, wanting colors fair
      To paint it forth, him to displeasance moov'd,
      That in his crown he counted her no heir,
But twixt the other twaine his kingdom whole did share.

Spenser’s The Fairie Queene Book II, Canto X

The Shakespeare evening would come to be looked on as a family festa.

Mason, Vol. 5, p.226

This year at the retreat, we will be offering a Shakespeare evening.  After a full day of workshops and sessions, we invite you to join us for a very relaxed and informal reading with the Bard. No preparation needed; scripts and a few props for fun will be provided. Spouses who join us on Saturday for the late afternoon/evening sessions are most welcome.

If you are not familiar with the storyline, read Nesbit’s brief story version here. And, if you would like to read a Parents’ Review article about King Lear, click here.

Folksong for 2022 CMER

The Industrial Revolution impacted small communities such as the ones that author Thomas Hardy reimagined in his novel, Far From the Madding Crowd. It disrupted the local narrative that united the “eccentric individualities” that inhabit any locale. Communities were increasingly composed of those who had less and less in common. Less common history; less common legend and folk-lore. Less community.

Sharing something in common—beliefs, practices, history, a way of living, for example—shape us into a community.  We’ve all experienced how “bent leather” (Ourselves, p.75) can suddenly familiarize the unfamiliar and welcome the alien. It is an act of imagination and hospitality; an act of hope.

In February, we will kick-off our time together at CMER 2022 with a rousing celebration of the ordinary man—Robbie Burns’ folksong A Man’s A Man For A’ That.