Laughs from Mount Hermon

I’ve been posting all week about the Mount Hermon Christian Writers Conference. Today I realized that I’ve been talking about the pressures and the joys, but left out some of the funnier moments. So, I’ll remedy that today.

I’m hoping these aren’t “you just had to be there, I guess” laughs.

The one moment that still makes me smile when I think about it happened at one of the breakfasts. A writer leaned over to me and said, “So, are you in high school or college, dear? Are you enjoying the teen track?” She looked like she wanted to crawl under the table when I informed her that I am actually 39 and NOT part of the teen track. Little did she know that she made my day. My age actually came up several times during the week (I have no idea why) and several people told me they thought I was in my twenties. Must have been a good hair week or something.

On Palm Sunday, a group of us hiked to the top of Mount Hermon to see the sunrise and the cross. I was very careful to stay with the group on the way up, since I have a horrible tendency to get lost. I was less concerned about the way back, since I figured I could just follow the path straight back down the hill. So one other writer and I dawdled around taking pictures and chatting. Well, you guessed it. We got lost on the way back down. Neither of us remembered seeing quite so many forks in the trail on the way up. After a frantic cell phone call to my new friend’s roommate, we spotted a car. Both of us simultaneously jumped into the street and nearly landed on the hood to get it to stop. It was one of the hikers from earlier who was quite amused at our predicament. She gave us directions and offered us a ride. We turned down the ride now that we knew where we were. A few more wrong turns later, we finally stumbled back into camp, laughing. So “Amy from Indiana” — I can’t wait to see your book in print. I’ll never forget our little adventure.

There were other funny moments, but the best one I did not actually know about until this morning. I remember walking around the “autograph party” and hearing a loud shriek and screams of laughter from the other side of the room. I didn’t know what had happened until I read author Brandilyn Collins’ blog this morning. It had to do with a rubber snake and a hollowed out book. Since Brandilyn writes suspense and has the tag line “Don’t forget to breathe,” this seems like a very appropriate prank. I would have loved to have witnessed it. If you have time, click on the link (her name) and read her version of the story. It is hysterical.

On the last morning of the conference, I was walking back to my room to pack and I spotted a bright yellow banana slug. Now, in Oregon, our banana slugs are usually green with brown spots. As a former park naturalist, I was excited to see the real thing. So, here I am, kneeling in the mud, getting face-to-face with a slug and trying to get it to pose for my camera. All I could think was, “I sure hope no publishers or agents walk by right now…”