Anne's Garden, A Playback

Welcome to Anne's Garden:

A Playback

At the Power of Words Conference last weekend, at Ferry Beach on Saturday, I ran into my friend, Anne Ellinger, walking along the Atlantic shore in the early morning. I've known Anne for years through the Playback Theatre Troupe she belongs to, True Story Theater, from Arlington, MA - the troupe was invited as a keynote presenter, and they had given a moving performance the evening before. Soon after sunrise, Anne asked to see what pictures I had just taken from my walk, and she told me how much she loved seeing my daily nature photos on Facebook.

Will you come and photograph my garden? she impulsively asked. Soon? The sooner the better!

Her surprise request seemed like a spectacular invitation - I couldn't resist - and we made an engagement for yesterday. Here is a slideshow "playing back" my experience of Anne's garden in pictures - and words. Because, if this were a Playback Theatre experience, and I was given the opportunity by her husband, Christopher, to tell my story for True Story Theater to play back in performance spontaneously, this is the story I'd tell:

Anne's garden is wild, a dream

sown of enchanting

seeds, seeds flung by a hand

that stands - for everything is possible!

Anne's home grows out from under

a Tree bears stories like apples

of friendship, tender and lasting and tart

Anne's eyes are a red sun, packed full

of seeds you can taste of her dreams

and re-plant

you can harvest her dreams, you must

come - you're invited

dream into the scent of Anne's Garden

here, is your hammock of rest

and surprise

Anne Ellinger has been part of True Story Theater from the start. She and husband Christopher (True Story’s Director) are cofounders of Bolder Giving, a national initiative that promotes the stories of extraordinary givers. She is part of the team helping to launch Playback North America.

All photos and text copyright Kelly DuMar 2017