Thursday, November 29, 2007

Stopping By Woods: A Winter Remembrance

When I was nine years old my new stepfather, my mother, and I loaded up a red, Ford pick-up truck with all our worldly possessions and left cold & frosty Minnesota for the warmer, balmier climes of Charleston, South Carolina. My whole world or rather my concept of it at the time, was left back in Minnesota, specifically the NW corner near a town called Bemidji. My large extended family consisting entirely of solid Scandinavian heritage had lived for several generations on farms in the surrounding countryside. Nobody ever left, at least not for long. That’s what I thought.

I had no way of knowing how unrecognizable the weather was going to be in Charleston. Sure I had been told I was moving to a place that stayed warm all year round, but what did that really mean? I couldn’t comprehend that we were moving to a place where it didn’t snow.

We arrived in the fall, and when Halloween rolled around I was ecstatic to discover that I didn’t have to squeeze my costume on over a snowsuit. But, when Thanksgiving arrived and it was still hot out I got worried. Everything was all screwy, it felt like Thanksgiving in July. Imagine my distress when Christmas came and went with nary a snowflake in the sky, or even a good freeze that made the dew on the grass all crunchy and fun to walk on. You see, I was a kid who loved the snow, loved mittens & funny caps with pompoms on top, loved seeing my breathe in the air on a cold day, and most of all loved to watch snow as it fell from the sky in a quiet mesmerizing dance covering everything in cool, clean whiteness.

I got depressed. So did my parents. We took a weekend trip to the Smoky Mountains to look at the snow, it was beautiful, but it wasn’t like “home” in Minnesota.

I was in the fourth grade that winter. I had adjusted well to my new school and had made some new friends. Oddly enough they all thought I talked funny. Hah! They were the ones who talked funny – Uffdah ya. Anyway, that January my teacher gave our class an assignment. We were told to memorize and individually recite Robert Frost’s poem, “Stopping By Woods On A Snowy Evening.” WHAT !?! I had to memorize some stupid, old, boring poem and say it in front of my friends? Friends who were always making me feel different because of the way I talked? I dragged myself home and dramatically complained to my parents over how unfair life was. (I was good at that! Still am.)

This was before I actually read the poem, though. When I did read “Stopping By The Woods On A Snowy Evening” for the first time, I was immediately reminded of my life in Minnesota. I remembered the late night drives to my grandparent’s farm on winter nights…I remembered being mesmerized by the sight of the snow fluttering down from an inky, black sky, and then suddenly, being lit up brightly like little stars by our car’s headlights as we sailed through them on down the road… I remembered the birch trees looking so very white under their blankets of snow.

I loved the poem. I thought Robert Frost was a genius. Over and over I practiced it. In my minds eye, I saw the beloved winter landscape before me, I saw the woods fill up with snow, felt sad regret when I said, “But, I have promises to keep…” I can assure you, that my recitation was the most dramatic & deeply felt one in the class that year.

I never stopped missing Minnesota winters, despite the fact that they can indeed get ruthlessly cold. Someday, somehow I was going to move back.

Next up: My Alabama born & raised husband must really love me, because he let me talk him into moving to Minneapolis, Minnesota in 1988.

Sunday, November 25, 2007

Lars and the Real Girl

What an oddly wonderful & brilliant movie. I Looooved it! What made it all the more special for me was the fact that the story takes place in a Wisconsin town very similar to the Northern Minnesota towns where my family comes from. The people reminded me of my fellow Minnesotans in so many, many ways. The actors are all outstanding and the story makes me have faith in the human race - we can be kind and loving gosh dang it all!!! *sigh* When the movie comes out on DVD I am definitely buying it.

My next must see movie is Juno. I have become a big Diablo Cody fan. I read her book "Candy Girl", a very unusual choice of reading material for me considering it's about Diablo's experiences working as a stripper in Minneapolis for a year. But, hers is a gifted & original voice and I look forward to reading whatever the heck she wants to write about. I love her blog too - it has the unbelievably trashy name of The Pussy Ranch. I cringe just typing it out. Diablo likes to shock, but she is incredibly human too and there's something very wise about her perspective on things. She is also my antithesis I suppose, so I can live vicariously through her outrageousness & wild child antics. I have NEVER been wild. I'm a good girl...wink, wink.
My father was so wild & bad that there was nothing left for me to rebel over, other than being a good, conservative, upstanding citizen. Hah! That'll show those busy bodies who predicted I'd amount to nothing on account of my daddy. Little children can hear just fine when you gossip, thank you very much.

Thanksgiving was quiet and cold in Texas for us. That's okay. Next year though, I want a big shindig.

I was supposed to work on some stories, but I've been lazy. I've thought about them though - does that count? I'm doing a humorous Minnesotan version of "Why the Bear Has a Stumpy Tail" for the Lantern Light Festival in Plano. Uffdah yeah, it'll be funny dat's for sure. You betcha! That's one thing I don't remember from my years in Minnesota, people saying "you betcha". Hhhhmmmm...the movie Fargo made it seem more common place than it really is maybe? I need to go back for a visit and take notes. Think the relatives will mind? Uffdah.

Thursday, November 22, 2007

Puppets!



My daughter and I love puppets. Between the two of us, and including my husband Jeff's two spider puppets, we have over 36 at the last count. Rarely do I use them for storytelling. This may be due to the fact that I know I will never be as gifted at "bringing them to life" as my daughter. She has a natural born knack for it, really she does.

Still every once in a while, I'll give it a try and bungle through a story or two with one. Here I am with my wee little mouse .

Tellabration 2007


The Richardson/Plano Storytellers Guild had their Tellabration last Sunday and all went well. We had beautiful weather and all the tellers were spot on in their telling. We also managed to raise over $90.00 from our bake sale to help offset the Tejas Festival's losses due to horrible weather last April.


I arrived flustered (a common state for me these days), but managed to pull it together and have a fun afternoon. I really do love hanging out my storytelling friends.


Thursday, November 15, 2007

So many stories, so little time

I used to have a bumper sticker that read "So many stories, so little time...". It was proudly displayed on the rear bumper of my previous vehicle; a bright, electric green little economy car. That statement was true for me then and is even more so now. I have started writing many personal stories and I want to complete them. I have scads of old folktales tucked away in files, patiently waiting to be adapted into new material for me to tell to future listeners. So many stories...waiting. Wanting to be told...

*sigh*

Time is my big issue. There just isn't enough of it. And gosh dang it all, but I am one of those people who need to sleep 9-10 hours every night! How I envy those people who say they only need 4-5 hours of sleep per night. Martha Stewart is a freak of nature who needs only 4 hours of sleep per night, and from what I hear, she's not always a very nice person. But just between you and me, I sure do envy her hyper-energetic, type A productivity!

As I type this, I have new material patiently waiting to be developed & polished for a program tomorrow night at the Dallas Museum of Art. Following that, I have several new stories that need to be ready next month, and the month after that, and the month after that... I pride myself on being a fast learner of stories, and I am, I am...it's just that right now many stories need to be researched, developed and learned in a very short time.

So, off I go to do just that, but boy oh boy, do I hear the clock ticking away...tick-tock, tick-tock, tick-tock...

Tuesday, November 6, 2007

Okay, so maybe I need to blog more often...

Well in my defense, I did have good intentions when I began this blog. I truly believed I was going to write more often then this. And I will, I will. I just need to overcome my distaste for having to learn the techno know-how of blogging.



The world of story has been keeping me super busy. This October, I had more gigs then ever before, which in turn required my writing lots of new material. Twas challenging in the extreme, yet creatively fulfilling at the same time. Long story short - I created new stories (often in the nth hour), got out there in front of the audiences, told the stories and didn't fall flat on my face. I survived!!! Though I do have a lingering twitch in my right eye that I'm still struggling to overcome.



Now for the Big, BIG news!



I am the official resident storyteller for the Dallas Museum of Art! Last February I told stories there for the first time, and well, they kept inviting me back until finally I was asked to be their permanent storyteller. Life is so amazing! During my first visit to the DMA with my family, not long after we had moved to Texas, I remember wishing aloud about how wonderful it would be to tell stories there. We were at the museum for hours & hours, it is HUGE, and of course I wanted to see it all. I fell in love with the place that day, marveling over the hundreds of master artworks in every nook & cranny. Who knew I was going to really work for them as a storyteller one day? So finally, after years & years of feeling caught between my love of storytelling/performance and the visuals arts, often feeling like I had to choose one or the other, I am now able to combine both into a harmonious whole. How very creatively satisfying for me.

Other storytelling news:

The Richardson/Plano Storytelling Guild will have their Tellabration on Sunday, Nov. 18 at 2:30 pm at Plano Heritage Farmstead off of 15th street. I will be there telling stories along with the other storytellers. Here's hoping we have a beautiful fall day for the event. We gather back at the farm on the evening of Nov. 30th for Christmas/seasonal stories during their Lantern Light Festival.

Okay, that's it for now. Caio.