Sunday Seven: Seven Siblings

Today is the birthday of my sister, Carol. I thought it would be a good Sunday to finish this little tribute to the Seven Siblings that I got a start on a while back. I wish I had a larger selection of digital pics handy to choose from, but these are pretty illustrative ---

David the long-expected

(Above left, the little rascal turns to watch his older sister enter on our father's arm. And at the right he stands as my Best Man.)
He is the youngest of us. When Mama was expecting the seventh, Daddy and I hauled all the baby furniture out into the yard and painted it baby blue. I was thrilled as an 11-year-old to announce his birth. I read him Huck Finn when he was about four. I wonder if he got anything out of it. He brought Vicki into the fold and they presented us with Jessica, Katie, and Haley - the blessings keep flowing! And his barbecue is smoked to perfection!

Beth the adventurous



(Above left she is a wistful attendant to Joan the bride. And at the right Toddler Beth enjoys a holiday meal at Mama Shaw's)
I often misspeak and say "Beth!" when I call "Brannon". Maybe my slip has something to do with their shared derring-do. Brannon, my daughter, spent three months in Europe with a backpack, completely on her own with no set itinerary. As an adolescent, Beth took off on her own to visit our eldest sibling in Taiwan, then jogged over a few hundred air miles to visit Thailand while she was at it. Never mind there was a war on. And Beth is responsible for two wonderful additions to our family - "Amandarooni" and "Joshaway". Even her "beloved curmudgeon" adds a lot of smarts and bold dash of spice to the mix!

Debi the reader



(Little girls dressed up: "I feel pretty, oh so pretty!" at Joan's wedding.)
We nearly lost her before we knew her to pneumonia, so we've spoiled her rotten. I suspect that when we left her at the filling station that time, she had her head stuck in a book and didn't notice her family pulling away. When she finished the last book in the world she married an author and even decided she'd have to write a few herself. She and Gregg have also been most prolific in new family editions - Andrew, Matthew, Lisette, Benjamin, and Jonathan! Those five are more like siblings than cousins to my two!

Carol the rival



(Don't tell me you can't see the mischief in those eyes. Left and right at Joan's wedding, and center at Mama Shaw's table.)
She is closest to me in age and we FOUGHT in childhood. I remember, at about 9 or 10, threatening to kill her! As teens, college kids, and then young adults, we grew close. I'm not sure how I would have survived my last two years of college without her sympathetic ear... and her typing skills! And today is her birthday! Happy Birthady, Sis! And thanks for the two extra blessings you and RT presented us, "Stinkeroo" and "Skalawag"! "Stinkeroo" has added two more beautiful blessings, "Sweetstuff" and "Sunshine"!

Me the little big bro



(At left I am the somber alternative to the gleeful Carol. On the right the proud groomsman at Joan's wedding.)
As the first grandson on Daddy's side, they spoiled me rotten. As the little brother of two, they spoiled me rotten. As the big brother of four, I assumed the lead. And now as the sole Democrat, I take the heat. I may or may not be a blessing, but I surely am a blessee! And for all my faults, I gave my siblings a new sister, Sheila, a two fantastic neices: "Brannyroo" and "Lillyloo".

Joan the intellect



(Above right Joan enjoys her nutty uncles. And, of course, the beautiful bride.)
I worshiped at her feet. I bragged when her picture appeared in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution as the gorgeous and stylish Georgia Peach of the Week. She is the calm, brilliant center and the peacemaker. She and Jim, obviously mentally challenged, even loaned me their car for dates! And she and Jim gave us our first wonderful niece blessing, Lyn, and a fine nephew, Steve. And these two have presented us with six additional wonders - two rough and tumble guys (a middle-schooler and one who thinks he's a middleschooler) and four brilliant, determined sweethearts (a set of near-triplets and a gorgeous teen).

Jan the leader



(Big sister at grandmother's, as bride, and as Matron of Honor for Joan.)
Eldest and born to lead, she marshaled us to any task that was at hand. Though ready always to list all the pros and cons of every way to proceed, proceed she did and does. When I was a bewildered youth, she and Gil counseled me and even loaned me money and taught me to ski! She and Gil gave us Charmaine and Gil in quick succession -- what a blessing they have been! And now those two have done their part -- four rambunctious boys and 3, uh, (yep) rambunctious girls! We need to see them more often, Jan!

This post is so inadequate to express my love and admiration for my six siblings. They collectively make up one of the greatest blessings of my life. As anyone who reads our blogs knows, we have significant differences on many issues. But we share a wonderful heritage and a deep love. I am truly thankful this Sunday for these blessings.

Sunday Concert: Abiyoyo

One of my favorite activities is storytelling. I do a lot of it. I come by it naturally. My grandfather (Daddy Shaw) was a storyteller for a living, that is, a barber. My father and mother have also been professional storytellers, that is, Methodist ministers. And I have been a professional storyteller, that is, an elementary school teacher.

My favorite childhood occupations, other than pestering my five sisters, were:

• perching in the spare barber chair, drinking a small coke with ice flecks and peanuts floating in it, and listening to Daddy Shaw regale his customers with a tales.
  
• gathering with my sisters on the floor of my father's little study in the backyard of 333 South Ninth Street in Griffin, Georgia, hanging on every word of Daddy's stories of growing up in Milstead, Georgia.
• sitting with my mother as she read/told Bible stories.
  

As a grown-up I am most happy when I am performing:

• on stage in musicals and plays
• in church and other groups (even a stadium full of baseball fans) as a singer
• before girl scouts, PTO nights, civic groups, classrooms, other school groups, or just my two daughters as a storyteller.

Two of my Terrell's Basic Repertoire stories come from Pete Seeger. They are simple, formulaic, audience participation stories that anyone can tell. Kids love them! They are "Abiyoyo" and "The Foolish Frog". I have no idea how to estimate how many times I have told these two stories during the last 38 years. A lot.

This video of Pete telling "Abiyoyo" may be 38 years old.

Abiyoyo

America is awakening.

Here's something to warm the heart of this good ol' boy. Even here in Georgia -- the state that elected a fellow named Saxby Chambliss to the US Senate after he executed one of the sleasiest campaigns of modern history; that in 2004 gave its electoral college votes to the worst president of my lifetime; even here, the Republican in the White House has lost majority support. Check out this graph from SurveyUSA:

If an election were held today -- oh, if only! -- the current occupant of the White House could expect to receive the electoral votes of Idaho, Wyoming, and Utah.

Now, we Democrats have to move wisely, to help the country recover from the division of the Bush years. We must be principled in the right, but also realize that when we are elected we serve the whole people. And, if we manage to take back the Presidency and build majorities large enough to be effective in Congress, we still will not be able to wave a magic wand to cure the evils of Republican ascendancy. We will need to be deliberate and unequivical, but measured in redeploying our military, rebuilding alliances, squelching terrorists, reordering our enviromental standards, bolstering the national infrastructure, strengthening our educational system, extending health coverage, etc. To the greatest degree ethically possible, we need to work in a bipartisan way. The American people are sick and tired of the mean-spirited partisanship.

And there will eventually, almost certainly, be another terrorist attack, maybe worse than before, whether a Democratic President is elected in 2008 or not. We must be ready to welcome all Americans to join in the the recovery and NOT use it to divide the country the way Bush did. Our President must be ready to inspire the country to stand up to the terrorists AND preserve our institutions and principles. Never has it been more important to have a President who can inspire. And we will need a President who can stand firm under pressure to give up our principles in the face of terror. I hope and believe Clinton, Edwards, Biden, Dodd, or Obama could be the Churchill we will need to solicit "blood, sweat, toil, and tears" of an anquished nation.

As galling as it may be to have to deal with a Chambliss or a Thune, who dealt us such painful losses, or a Lieberman, who is so wrong on the war, Democrats must put the country ahead of power and party.

Learning in the Great Outdoors: A Heads-Up!

The September edition of Learning in the Great Outdoors, the Carnival of Environmental Education, will be here before you know it! Have you written a nature-related post? Have you found a website useful for teaching about the environment? Have you got a nomination for a Virtual Outdoors Site of the Month. Please make a submission and get your submissions in soon! Submit your blog article to the September edition by using our carnival submission form or by sending a link directly to Terrell at thelimb [at] mac [dot] com.

Learning in the Great Outdoors will be back home here on the Limb for September. Thanks to Tricia at The Miss Rumphius Effectfor her excellent care of the Carnival as the first guest host in August. Julie at Pines Above Snow, will host the October edition. If you would like to host a future edition of the carnival please let me know!

Beware the Stone Zone

Roger with fellow tricksters

Roger Stone surfaces from the sludge again. Roger proudly quotes Nixon on his website:

Roger Stone "is one of the very few excellent political professionals."

-Richard Nixon

You remember Roger? He's the guy who is reported to have ...

• vounteered to infiltrate the McGovern campaign for Nixon ( He was part of Chuck Colson's CREEP group.)
• helped Ollie North raise money for the Contras
• been ordered to disrupt the Florida recount by James Baker
  
• organized the "spontaneous" mob that disrupted the recount of Dade County Florida ballots in 2000
• raised a mysterious $150,000 to unseat Florida judges who ordered the 2000 statewide recount
• been rewarded for his undercover work in Florida by "serving" on the transition team for Bush.
• helped staff Bush's Bureau of Indian Affairs, after which he negotiated Indian gambling contracts that could make him a very wealthy man - we're talking millions -- while also working for anti-gambling interests ala Ralph Reed & Co.... "double agent man, double aaaagent mannnnn."
  
• advertised for sex partners through a magazine and online
• been involved, double agent style, with circulating later-discredited evidence of George Bush's military record
• promoted the presidential campaign of Al Sharpton in 2004 -- double agent style again
  
• called the 83 year-old father of NY Gov. Spitzer and left this recorded message:

“There is not a g**d*** thing your phony, psycho, piece-of-s*** son can do about it. Bernie, your phony loans are about to catch up with you. You will be forced to tell the truth and the fact that your son’s a pathological liar will be known to all.”

I have been aware of this guy since the obscene Republican behavior in Florida in 2000.
You can check out this info at a number of spots on the web. Here are a few sources for lots of links and more info on this sleasebag buddy of our President: Oh!Pinion, Daily Kos, Washington Post, Village Voice, Albany Times-Union, or just google "Roger Stone"

If you want the other side, read the guy's defense here. Methinks if the recording should turn out to be fooled around with, the likeliest fooler-around is Mister Stone himself.

It is our choices.

As someone who has made a maddening variety of poor choices and a few excellent ones, my favorite quotation from the Harry Potter series is when Harry has worried that he is at heart a Slitherin rather than a true Griffindor, and Dumbledore says

"It is our choices, Harry, that show what we truly are, far more than our abilities."

-Albus Dumbledore

I expect Brannon, my lovely eldest, to comment with her ever ready:
"Pop's on his rant again." :-)

I have before ranted about choices here and here.

All you terrorists out there, listen up!

This blog has been entirely too apolitical lately, so here's a post I let slide for a while:

I read a post a while back by a blogger who professes to believe that people in America especially the "liberal left"" are more upset by Mike Vick's abuse of dogs than by terrorism against human beings.

This blogger seems to believe that the "liberal left" should be voicing more opposition to terrorism: that those who disagree with the Republican response to terrorism have not been vocal enough in our abhorance of terroristic acts. The blogger wonders why there are not protests againt terrorist acts.

I would not know where or when to protest against terrorism. I guess I could do it here on the Limb. I have never considered terrorists a likely part of my audience. But, fine. I'll say it again, just in case ---

Hey you terrorists, stop it!! I mean it! Right now!

That's ridiculous, of course. If there should be any terrorists in my vast readership, I cannot imagine that they are affected by my words -- other than, perhaps, to be pleased that their atrocities have goaded me into a response.

Why do terrorists terrorize?

They terrorize to cause terror, (duh!) hoping that in our fear we will do what they want us to do.

What do they want?

They've told us. They want radical Islam to rule the world

So:

1. Therefore they need to radicalize Islamic countries
   
2. Therefore they need more Islamic people to become angry enough to join the radical Islamic cause
3. Therefore they want western countries to make "crusades" on radical Islam, especially if there is lots of "collateral damage" among Islamic peoples
   
4. Therefore they try to egg western countries into such a war by terrorist strikes
5. Therefore they are thrilled when westerners rant against radical Islam -- especially when they lump all or most Muslims with the radicals
6. Therefore the vilest among them will murder missionaries, saw off the heads of journalists, send young zealots into city squares with bombs strapped around their waists, fly airliners into tall buildings, and, if they can, detonate a suitcase nuke in downtown Peoria.
   

Every time our side goofs up and attacks a country that did not attack us, bombs a site that includes non-combatants, treats the Koran disrespectfully, tortures Muslim prisoners, shouts "bring 'em on!", looks at or disseminates a terror picture or film of a beheading, rants about the "evils" of Islam, etc., etc., etc. -- when we do those things, we further the terrorist cause.

Here at the Limb, we have consistently voiced our belief that America should relentlessly, lethally, aggressively pursue terrorists. We should carry a very big stick. But we should speak very softly. Ranting about terrorism is about the most useless exercise I can imagine. It is worse than useless, actually, since ranting reinforces the terror. Elevating what Bin Laden wanted called a great war into the "Generational War on Terror" is exactly the wrong thing to do. Democrats and Republicans are both to blame for that - along with our sensational press. It should instead be a multifaceted, longterm, unceasing, multinational, and relatively quiet, police action.

Instead of ranting we should make it clear to the terrorists that , while we will beef up our defenses as much as we can, and strike the bad guys whenever possible:

• We will continue our lives as unaffected by the terror as we possibly can.
  
• We will not give up our freedoms in response to terrorism.
  
• We will not compromise our morals and ethics in response to terrorism.
• We will remain true to our founding documents.

I do agree that the public in general is too removed from the war in Iraq. Given that belief I am moving ever closer to the idea that we need universal service in this country. It is too easy to send other folks children into foolish wars.

By the way, if Vick is guilty -- and since I wrote this several weeks ago I've heard tell that he has acknowledged his guilt -- he is a cruel and disturbed human being. But he hasn't quite achieved terrorist status in my Book of Evils. Though I have always heard that animal abuse turns up in the life stories of psycopaths pretty frequently.

PTSW: Ogden Nash

When Brannon and Lillian were little they loved for me to read, or sometimes to sing, to them from The Golden Treasury of Poetry, the classic anthology of children's poems edited by Louis Untermeyer. Sheila's Aunt Wilma had made a gift of this one to her niece in the fifties. I'd start somewhere near the front and we would skip around through the big book, reading/singing until one of us dozed off. I've always enjoyed goofy Ogden Nash. Here are two of his from The Golden Treasury.

The Rhinoceros

The rhino is a homely beast,
For human eyes he's not a feast.
Farewell, farewell, you old rhinoceros,
I'll stare at something less prepoceros.

- Odgen Nash

A Introduction to Dogs

The dog is man's best friend.
He has a tail on one end.
Up in front he has teeth.
And four legs underneath.

Dogs like to bark.
They like it best after dark.
They not only frighten prowlers away
But also hold the sandman at bay.

A dog that is indoors
To be let out implores.
You let him out and what then?
He wants back in again.

Dogs display reluctance and wrath
If you try to give them a bath.
They bury bones in hideaways
And half the time they trot sideaways.

They cheer up people who are frowning.
And rescue people who are drowning.
They also track mud on beds.
And chew people's clothes to shreds.

Dogs in the country have fun.
They run and run and run.
Buit in the city this species
Is dragged around on leashes.

Dogs are upright as a steeple
And much more loyal than people.

- Ogden Nash

I'll save "Custard the Dragon" for another Monday. Oh, how we loved ol' Custard.

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The series of posts, A Poem to Start the Week, is my little anthology of poetry, many of which I have used with my students in elementary schools during 27 years of teaching.



Previous Poems to Start the Week:
Trash
Hearts, Like Doors • Casey at the Bat • Always a Rose • Home at Last
Bag of Tools • Carpe Diem • Poems About Poetry • Man's Best Friend
Spelling is Tough Stough! • Blue Marble • Tacks, Splinters, Apples and Stars
Oh, Captain, My Captain! • Metaphor • Introducion to Poetry
Loveliest of Trees • Flax-Golden Tales • The Dinosaurs Are Not All Dead
Owl Pellets • Mummy Slept Late • Just My Size
The Kindest Things I Know • Miles to Go • Love that Brother
Oh, Frabjous Day!

Other Posts about Children's Literature:

The Lion's Paw top kid's OOP book!
Harry
Aslan is Dead!
Multiplying People, Rice, and Readers

A Teacher's Life

You can read some of my own efforts at poetry here.
And then there's Alien Invasion.

A weblog dedicated to Poetry for Children.
Watch Sonja Cole's reviews of children's books at Bookwink.com.
The PBS series Favorite Poem Project.