When high summer starts kicking in, my cooking improves tremendously. Even in a bad garden year (and this is one), I've got armloads of fresh herbs, and at the moment I'm also harvesting young red onions, garlic scapes, a few peas, and salad greens, and I have access to local fruit, corn, and fish. Last night's meal was a treat from beginning to end. I roasted two small whole mackerel ($4.99 a pound at the fish market; a steal!), first salting and olive-oiling them and stuffing them with fresh oregano, lemon thyme, and slices of lime; then serving them with a yogurt-parsley sauce. On the side, two salads: one, corn with roasted onions and peppers and fresh cilantro; the other, sliced beets with green onion, tiny peas, garlic scapes, mint, and salad greens. For dessert: a version of a Neapolitan--scoops of homemade chocolate and vanilla ice cream topped with fresh strawberries. It was a really, really good dinner.

Otherwise, the day was full of this-and-thats, with the big event being the dance rehearsal up at Bowdoin. If you are within travel distance of Monson Arts, you're invited to join us for the faculty performances, all of which will take place at Tenney House, all of which are free and open to the public and begin at 7 p.m. As you know, this year’s conference theme is collaboration, and each of the performances will feature faculty working together to create collaborative art. Here's the schedule:

July 7: Gretchen Berg, poet, and Gwyneth Jones, dancer (accompanied by Dawn Potter, fiddle)

July 8: Dawn Potter, poet (accompanied by Teresa Carson, reader)

July 9: Teresa Carson, poet (accompanied by Dawn Potter, reader)

Preparing for these performances has been so interesting and absorbing, and every day I've been getting more and more excited about the conference. All four of the faculty members have completely embraced the notion of collaboration in our design of teaching sessions and performances, and planning for this has been challenging and fascinating and exciting. Teaching, at its best, is a deeply creative act, and working with these incredible colleagues has invigorated me so much. I can't wait to welcome our participants into this delight.