You know those melodramas where the villain threatens the heroine and then the hero appears to save her. It’s good fiction, right? Well, supposing that really happened? It might have. Except Zelda had to save herself. It happened long ago in 1933. After the death of her mother, Zelda lived with her married sister. Her […]
We were the sixth graders—the oldest kids in the Maeser School. When plans were announced for the end of the school year field day, we knew that our part had to be the biggest and the best. Each class was to choose a state and make a float for the parade. Naturally, we chose Texas.
Yellow Rose of Texas – April 29 Read More »
Xasparilla was getting old. She was now a faded red and her paint was starting to peel. The time for a repaint job had arrived. In fact, it was overdue. Now she would be painted for the third time. It was 1989 when I began painting ladybug rocks. Every rock was given a name. Sometimes
Xasparilla – April 28 Read More »
“Would you be willing to do the flowers for my grandson’s wedding?” my sister asked. I didn’t need to hesitate. I had made the bouquets, boutonnieres, and corsages for my daughters’ weddings. “I can do that,” I said. I went to Hobby Lobby with my sister, the bride, and other interested friends to get silk
Wedding – April 27 Read More »
“The Magic Brush” is a folk tale from China. Years ago, I developed my own telling of this story. I put a green brocade robe on the old Chinese gentleman who gave Ma Lien a magic brush. I also described the old gentleman has having a flowing white beard. At the end of the story
Veritable – April 26 Read More »
A small brown bird sat on a post near my front yard. I listened to his cheerful little song. When he finished the last note, I spoke. “I like your little song.” He cocked his head and trilled a few more notes before stopping again. I spoke once more. He cocked his head, looked at
Interacting with Nature Read More »
There were feathers everywhere. It was the third Monday of the month and I was Zooming my Storytelling for All Ages program. I had chosen to share “Feathers,” a Jewish folk tale. There was once a woman who liked to talk, and she didn’t always pay strict attention to what was true. Her unkind words
Unspoken – April 24 Read More »
I first noticed the hollyhock in the middle of my front flower bed when it was a small plant. I hadn’t intended to have a hollyhock plant there, but I decided to let it grow. It continued to grow and reach upward until it was over ten feet tall. I was amazed. Masked individuals paused
The Hollyhock – April 23 Read More »
I began volunteering as a storyteller in my oldest son’s kindergarten classroom and continued this tradition for each of my children. Twenty years later, my youngest son was in first grade. Because I told stories in his classroom, I was invited to come listen to a storyteller that had been hired for an assembly. At
Storytelling – April 22 Read More »
My oldest sister made me a doll when I was a little girl. It was made out of cloth with moveable arms and legs. The doll had an embroidered face and hair made from a special kind of yarn called straw yarn. That doll exists only in my memory. “You didn’t take care of it,”
