Storytelling in Hayesville.

Sheila and I are in Hayesville, North Carolina to participate in a planning retreat for the Board of Directors for the Southern Order of Storytellers (SOS). Hosting the board this weekend are two Hayesville couples:  Kanute and Kathy Rarey and Anne Wheeler and Dick Berliner. AND we were thrilled to be asked to participate in the monthly Hayesville open mike storytelling event this evening. 

A special treat for me and Sheila was that our friend Mimi Shepherd showed up. Mimi is not blood kin rather a sort of "adopted cousin" who usually attends our Matthews family reunions. She has retired from her veterinary practice and moved to --- Hayesville!

Sheila with Mimi

SOS folks who told stories were board member Kanute (the emcee and first teller), our vice president Gwenolyn Napier, our legal advisor Anne, and me.

I had planned to tell a favorite ghost story, but...

Kanute opened the program with a wonderful reminiscence of his grandfather, in honor of Father's Day. 

Kanute addresses the enthusiastic crowd of story listeners at a coffee shop in Hayesville, NC.

Kanute's story included many details that reminded me of my own grandfather and father.  So I changed my mind.  I decided on the spot to talk about my father and his father, and Daddy's own story that I call "Skinny-dipping" or "Baptism by Fire & Water". I enjoyed it and I think my audience did.

I've shared a stage with Gwen several times now so I knew to expect an energetic and engaging story and she did not disappoint with her tale about Brer Rabbit's latest outwitting of Brer Bear. 

Brer Rabbit enlisted the help of Frog to defeat Brer Bear in a fishing contest.

This was my first time to hear Anne tell a story. She fascinated us with a her adventures in beekeeping.

Anne's beekeeping got off to a rough start when her son's dog got involved.

After the show Gwen and Kanute posed with me.

PTSW: Pantoum

 Tricia at the Miss Rumphius Effect gave us a challenge several years ago: Write a "pantoum". To get the lowdown on pantouns check out Tricia's post. Then write your own and join the fun!

I love watching the Cliff Swallows along the Oostanaula as they build their mud condominiums under the bridges, and range in neverending swoops and dives over the levee capturing tiny insects to feed their families.

The Cliff Swallow

He dips and dives and soars and swings
from bank to bank and bridge to stream.
He stops to dip his muddy beak
and sculpt from mud his cozy home.

From bank to bank and bridge to stream
he snaps his food and dips again,
and sculpts from mud his cozy home
up high and sheer on concrete face.

He snaps up food and dips again.
A hundred hundred times or more
up high and sheer on concrete face,
he dabs the mud and flies again.

A hundred hundred times or more
he stops to dip his muddy beak,
and dabs the mud and flies again,
to dip and dive and soar and swing.

by Terrell Shaw

I have written before about our cliff swallows.

Wild Blackberries

 We have had a wonderful crop of our thornless blackberries in our garden this year. But today we picked a cobbler's worth of the smaller sweet wild berries as we walked along the Mount Berry Trail. These are the blackberries for which one pays in blook and chigger bites. They are almost worth it.

Down the newly paved ramp from the Riverwalk...

... through the new shelter under the trestle...

...to the Martha Berry Trail and blackberry lane.

Gleaning Facebook: A Damning Case (Three Posts)

I hope every American will watch the open hearings of the bipartisan US House Committee investigating the January 6, 2021 attempt to overthrow our presidential election. It starts in just a few minutes. If you depend on Fox (so-called) News you will have to look for C-Span or one of the other news networks -- Fox, which covered the Benghazi nonsense practically gavel to gavel, is not covering the investigation of the most violent domestic attack on our republic since the Civil War.

Comments

Thomas Bavis The Fox folks won't broadcast it, but they'll definitely be watching it in their free time, because who doesn't check to see if their name comes up!

Don Rusk I’ve waited months for this day. As a moderate Republican , I demand to know why this transpired and who was involved?

Terrell Shaw Don Rusk , this Democrat says amen.

Don Rusk Terrell Shaw This Republican wants Trump gone!

Terrell Shaw When are y'all gonna come south, Don? You oughta stop by Rome again some day!

Don Rusk Terrell Shaw If I get down that way , I’ll give you a call to meet for coffee and talk!

Terrell Shaw Don Rusk Great.I hope we get to do that.

Don Rusk For sure

Dan Bolton The cops had every right to fire on them and that would had stopped that quick. I am sure some of them had their's on them. When crossed that line they had broken the law. I wish this could lead to charges on Trump.

------------------

WE, the American People, and history, need to know:

To what degree is Donald Trump responsible for the crimes and bloodshed of January Sixth?

So:

What did Trump know about the election results?

What was he told by the Justice Dept.?

I am watching the bipartisan hearings so I can better answer those questions.

I love our republic. It is not, and never has been, perfect --- as is acknowledged in the opening sentence of our founding document --- BUT it is founded with noble aspirations written into its founding documents. We MUST understand how we could reach a point when the tradition of a peaceful transfer of power is abandoned. ANYONE who was involved in a conspiracy to overthrow our elcetion MUST be held to account.

That despicable attack on our republic mandates a full investigation by Congress, as every member of Congress knows whether they admit it or not.

--------------

Donald Trump's name will go down in history right along with Benedict Arnold as a great betrayer of America.

Even Ivanka knew, and testified, that SHE believed what BARR(!) told Trump -- that his Big Lie is, and I quote, "Bullshit."

One hour of the January Sixth Committee has made a more damning case than the Watergate investigation did in its entire existence.

Comments

Sandra Pride The big question is did any of 45's followers watch,and did they believe the truth?

Robina Webb Gallagher 100 percent agree - The evidence is damning. Trump knew/knows it is a Big Lie

Don Rusk The bigger question is “ How are the Republican congressmen who still support him going to react ? Their dishonor will remain if they don’t say the right words?

Donald Abernathy History will surely and fiercely judge him. But his cult following believes anything he says.

Jeremy Smith But Terrell did you see the car chases on fox? They made a pretty compelling case

Diann Howell Steward TRUTH!

John Lee If Trump doesn’t go to jail after this I will be very disappointed. The writing is on the wall.

John Thomas Fowler They held nothing back, right between the eyes. There’s no rebuttal. Sorry is as Sorry does.

Bob W Gipson And yet Republican lawmakers continue to ignore the truth. They not only continue to defend the big lie but are actively perpetrating it.

PTSW: Stopping by Woods, Again

 Here's what I wrote 15 years ago about Frost's poem....

--------------------------

A Poem to Start the Week: Stopping By Woods on a Snowy Evening

Robert Frost once said, “I am not a teacher but an awakener.” I have tried to bring a bit of awakening into my teaching, even in this era of everything-for-the-test. I think poetry is one of the great awakeners for children.

Twenty-five years ago or so I attended a lecture by the late John Ciardi, a fine poet himself and one of my favorite children's poets. (I'll probably eventually post "Mummy Slept Late and Daddy Fixed Breakfast" -- it's another annual ritual in my class.) He spoke about the process of poetry writing. One of the poems he used as an example was the famous topic of this post, another poem that I, like most of the other teachers in the universe, recite to my students every year. (READ MORE)

Click on this photo  of John Ciardi to read the rest of this post...

This Ain't Minnesota!

For months every drive about Georgia brought to mind a certain Minnesotan. You see, a vote suppressing, gun-lobby apologist, Trump-wannabe, put up signs all over the state asking folks to vote for him instead of the vote-suppressing, gun-lobby apologist, Trump wannabe who used to also be a great football player. I'll bet I'm not the only storytelling enthusiast who seeing this sign:

Always thought of this guy:

If you don't know this guy you have missed some great stories. Click the picture to learn more.

With a simple relocation of one letter "L" the January Sixth Party in Georgia could have had a much better choice for US Senate than any of those on their ballot.

As for me and mine? We'll support U.S. Senator Raphael Warnock who is working to save Medicare and Social Security and our economy in general from the sabotage of the Republicans.

Gleaning Facebook: Distributing Mother's Estate

From my sister Janice Shaw Crouse:

This past Sunday my siblings, under the leadership of our brother Terrell Shaw, participated in another “Distribution” of mother’s things. Sunday we completed her collections of dolls, elephants and churches.

We also completed her nativity scenes (68 of them!) Wood carved ones, ceramic, fine china ones trimmed in gold, small ones for Christmas scenes with snow, ones with candles inside or electric with small light inside, knitted ones, ones from Israel, Mexico, etc.

We finished up the Bible category that included commentaries, Bible Study Books, Children’s Bibles, Bibles that are worn out, underlined and full of handwritten notes, Bibles given to Mother or Daddy by special friends or colleagues, many different versions, Bibles in Greek. The New Testament with four translations in one. Total: 85

The Distribution over Zoom was great fun. The picking order was random at the outset weeks ago and we shift it forward one person for each category.

Terrell is committed to being totally fair and fun as we distribute mother’s much-loved things among us Siblings. I would never have guessed it would be fun and enjoyable as we seek to honor mother in the way we handle the “treasures” she collected throughout her life. Here you can see a couple of items from two categories we covered Sunday — Bibles and Nativities. 

Another Retirement

Rodney Stewart came to Armuchee Elementary in the fall of 2004 as our new principal. I appreciated that he was quick to buy into our EIC program that had begun under his wonderful predesessor, Anita Stewart (no relation). EIC is a well-researched and effective program for using the environment as an integrating context for learning. For the next several years AES was a poster school for learning in the context of the real world around us. We had kids out in the courtyards, the playgrounds, the nature trails observing measuring, timing, collecting, weighing, magnifying, recording data; and then coming in to analyze what they had observed,  discuss their discoveries, research questions about their observations, write about their experiences, and more. 

I really saw Rodney's heart when tragedy struck our school. A fifth grade student was killed in a four-wheeler accident. Rodney led us through that crisis with amazing poise and sensitivity and love. It is hard for me to imagine anyone handling such a sad and trying time with greater grace, compassion, and strength. I will always revere Rodney for that leadership.

And then there were the silly times. When we raised enough in his "penny-drop" fundraising project, he moved his desk to the roof for the day. I used that as an opportunity to have a gravity lesson: he dropped items of varying weight from the roof and my kids observed them striking the ground at the same time.

Rodney put up with a lot from the crazy teacher at the end of the fourth grade hall. Early in one school year he came by our classroom door and peeked in as I conducted my annual "Discovering America Across Beringia" lesson that involved having kids climbing atop their desks (representing the former floor of the Bering Strait now exposed by the falling sea level and growing ice cap). He says he just sighed and walked back to the office praying no broken bones resulted.

After I retired I got involved in a new cause and went straight to Rodney with it. He was the first principal in the county to sign on to the YoungTales storytelling/writing program so near and dear to my heart and stuck with it through all six years (till Covid struck it on March 11, 2020).

I think Rodney realized, with Plutarch, that education is about kindling a flame, not filling a vessel.

Here are a few pictures from the retirement celebration we had at AES this morning.

As it has turned out, I served nine years while he led our school. Then in retirement he continued as my friend and a great supporter of both of my two big retirement endeavors: the YoungTales storytelling/writing program and Arrowhead Environmental Education Center.

Some of the teachers present had left before we got this picture.

Dr. Nancy Johal Singh has been a dear friend of close to two decades now.

Maggie was my first assistant principal at AES. I had known her for years as a wonderful teacher at Midway Elementary.

Vivian Johnson was a great teacher at AES who was sometimes on our fourth grade team with me. Vivian figures into one of my favorite impractical joke memories, but I'll save that one for another time.  

Gleaning Facebook: Strawberry Festival

2022 Strawberry Festival, Vista CA.
Susannah and her Mom

 

Getting Close on the Mount Berry/Riverwalk Trail Connection

Sheila and I walked up the Riverwalk to the new trail section this afternoon for the first time in about a week to see the progress. My ankles are still giving me fits so long walks are off for right now. 

We were pleased to see that the shed under the trestle is nearing completion. 

It is interesting to see the geology along  Little Dry Creek near the new bridge. This is very near an exposed section of the Rome Fault.

Unfortunately the approach from the upstream side of the bridge is still closed off. 

My walking companion, Sheila, looking from the new bridge back toward the trestle and new shed.

Jubilation/The Great Commandment

I have some friends who are concerned that our denomination might be moving away from a Biblical foundation. I suspect my friends are, primarily, thinking of a certain verse in Leviticus. There's a whole lot of Bible after that verse. And there are many "abominations" of that time that few if any still consider such. 

I love barbecue pork and I eat it with great relish and not a bit of guilt. I have eaten rabbit. I love lobster and had a delicious plate of crawdads, over pasta with a great sauce, just last week at Henry's Louisiana Grill. 

Leviticus tells me I am guilty of abomination. 

My reading of the New Testament tells me that God is Love and that I should love God and my neighbors. 

There is no record of Jesus ever mentioning sexual orientation. My experience tells me God gave my friends, relatives, and former students a variety of different sexual natures, and some of all sorts are deeply moral, and some of all sorts are not. 

I am a preacher's kid. I have heard hundreds of sermons. I attended many Sunday school and Bible school sessions as a child. I passed courses in New Testament, Teachings of Jesus, and Basic Christian Beliefs at a very conservative evangelical college. In adulthood I have attended church services almost every Sunday for many decades. Still I had never read all sixty-six books of the Bible straight through till a couple of years ago. It's a chore --- in all my previous attempts I stalled out during all the repetition before I finished Numbers. This time I stuck with it. There are lots of rules and lots of vengeance and, really, a lot of unpleasantness in the Old Testament. But, wow, when I got to Matthew there was a whole new emphasis! Of course I knew that intellectually. But reading the whole thing straight through I was struck anew, and more forcefully than ever, by the revolutionary nature of the gospel Jesus preached in the New Testament. 

You won't find a bunch of "thou-shalt-nots" printed in red in the New Testament. Jesus' red-letter words are just saturated, instead, with love. Jesus did give us two "thou shalts", so basic that they came to be known as the "Great Commandment": Love God with all your heart, soul and mind; and love other people as you love yourself. 

In act two of Tom Key and Harry Chapin's wonderful Cotton Patch Gospel musical tune in at 22:00 to hear "jubilation". Whenever I think of the Great Commandment I think of this song. 

Ooo-wee.

If you have time to listen to the whole musical, here's the first act.

The divisions in our nation, really in our culture, are mighty obvious. And our congregation is not immune to those divisions. Already some congregations have voted to "disaffiliate" from our denomination, and soon there will likely be some more. It breaks my heart. I pray our congregation will not go down that path. I will not be a part of that. I will stick with the group that prioritizes love. I will stick with the group that welcomes all.

Here is what John Wesley said about disagreements in the church:

“No man can choose for or prescribe to another. Everyone must follow the dictates of his own conscience in sympathy and sincerity. He must be fully persuaded in his own mind and then act according to the best light he has. Nor has any creature the power to constrain another to walk by his own rule. God has given no right to any of the children of men to lord it over the conscience of his brethren. Every wise man will allow other the same liberty of thinking which he desires they should allow him… he bears with those who differ with him… ‘Tis certain, as long as we know in part, all men will not see all things alike. It is the unavoidable consequence of the present weakness and shortness of human understanding that we be of several minds, in religion as in common life. Though we may not think alike, may we not love alike? May we not be of one heart though we are not of one mind?” -- John Wesley, founder of Methodism

Rehabbing the Doll Cradles 34 Years Later

As I was preparing to have my two granddaughters visit last summer I got busy refurbishing the doll cradle that their mother had received as a three year old. It had been a final Christmas gift from her "GrandShaw" in 1986. I also had the pieces of the cradle that had belonged to Amanda, their mother's cousin. So I refurbished both cradles. Today Amanda was in town so she picked up her cradle. I hope her three little girls will enjoy it... and maybe some of their kids one day. A little love passed down now another generation.

Here's a previous post I wrote about these cradles.

The folowing video show a little of the back yard process.

Both cradles were a little worse for thirty years wear and tear so I decided to paint the bed portion, which was made of very ordinary pine, and stain the oak rockers. 

Amanda with the doll cradle (and Sheila) in my mother's front yard today.

 

Anamchara

"...anyone without a soul friend is like a body without a head." - Brigid of Kildare

I have been privileged in my seventy-five years to have some true "anamchara" -- soul friends. Kindred sprits are so vital to a well-lived life. Sheila is my best friend. She has seen me at my best and at my worst and still she loves me.

Today it struck me as I fellowshipped at Mike Burton's Anamchara Gallery in Cedartwon, that I was among kindred spirits. My pictures are not great but I post them here so that I can revisit this day more easily.

Mike bought this storefront in downtown Cedartown and, with his usual reckless abandon, set about transforming it into a recording studio, film studio, musical venue, art exhibit space. He wants his music-loving boys, Miles and Cody, to have a performance space. He wanted his artist friends, John Johnston, Grover Hogan, and others -- as well as himself -- to have studio and exhibit opportunities. He wanted his folk music enthiusiasts, like me and Richard Ware, to have a place for "hootenannies". He envisions it as a spot for storytelling, recording, and videoing. So he just plunged in and did it. Will it work out financially? It's a long shot probably, but how I admire this fearless grab-life-by-the-horns "anamchara" of mine.

I was about to snap a picture of this ceramic sculpture by John Johnston when the artist wheeled a big trash can behind it!

Michael J. Burton has been my friend since the 1960s. Some of the drawings on the wall and the bronze scultures in the foreground date back a few decades. I have always admired Mike's drawings and his scultures. We have one in our living room.

I remember Kieth Drew (on the left) as Mike's young preacher friend from several decades ago when he was pastor at Cave Spring United Methodist Church. Stve Craw has been our friend since 1975, and was our business partner when we were publishers together of Broadside weekly newspaper in the seventies.

Miles (left) and Cody Burton (only his hat shows above the music stand) are Mike's sons. They have developed into pretty good musicians!

Grover Hogan (left) is Mike's cousin and mentor. His exquisite prints line one wall of the exhibit. Lucy Hale has also been a friend and kindred spirit in progressive political endeavors over a couple of decades. 

Mike (right) and Stephen Hale solving the problems of the world together.

The ceramics on this table were by a younger artist whose name escapes me right now and whom I had not met before.

Sheila (right) and Laurie Craw exploring the art. Laurie is a wonderful painter and potter herself.

Gleaning Facebook: Narcotics and Guns

From a physician posting to Facebook:

I prescribe narcotics and other controlled substances. They have a purpose but also have risks of death. I had to be trained in how to prescribe these drugs. I have to have a license through the DEA to prescribe these drugs. I had to have a background check to get this license. Every couple of years I pay a fee ($700) to the government to update that license. During the license renewal my background check is done again. I also have to continue training to keep the license as well as to keep my medical license in the state I prescribe narcotics and controlled substances. I also pay a fee and undergo a background check in my state to continue to prescribe those narcotics and other controlled substances. I have to show proof of my up to date training to the state I prescribe narcotics in. There are certain narcotics that I have to get a special license and training to prescribe in my state. No matter what training or license I have I can NEVER prescribe heroin. There are also checks and balances. If I give the wrong dose or too much a nurse or pharmacist will see it first.

... If I make a mistake prescribing narcotics I could kill one person at most. People are horrified at one person dying.  

A gun can kill hundreds...

From Terrell: America has too many guns and not enough gun control.

Clocktower Friends

Today I got a call from Tony Pope at the Rome History Center. He said to drop by the center; he had a present for me! 

When a I arrived there a couple of hours later he and Selena Tilley were busy changing out the front display to honor our fallen heroes for Memorial Day. Tony brought out two History Center bags each with one budvase decorated with a painting of the city clock. I got my choice! Yay!

While I was there I bought a City Clock hiking staff medallion to add to my collection. 

Thank you Tony and Selena for all you do to help preserve the history of Rome and Floyd County!

If you will be in town on Saturday June 4, call the History Center to reserve your visit to the Rome City Clock that day. We will have tours from noon till two. I'll be the guy up top showing off an eagle's eye view of our city.

And any time you are downtown take an opportunity to visit the gift shop there! They have lots of great Rome-related souvenirs and art pieces.

I had a hard time picking, but finally settled on the one on the left

I attached the City Clock medallion to my walking staff as soon as I got home.

Another interesting City Clock item at the History Center is this bee hive. Surely any queen bee would be pleased to establish her realm in this grand palace.