Last month I went to a storytelling conference in Denton, Texas. Zoom allowed me to attend without leaving my home. I loved the workshops and the storytelling concerts. I was particularly impressed by two children who did a tandem performance of Interrupting Chicken by David Ezra Stein. Papa Chicken was reading his child a bedtime […]
Interruptions – April 10 Read More »
When she saw that rattlesnake under the swing set in the front yard, my mother, Edna Pope, did not hesitate. She sent her children into the house. She didn’t give the snake the opportunity to coil and strike. Edna chased that snake around the house and into the backyard. As she passed the woodpile, she
Heritage – April 9 Read More »
My Golden Tales of California storytelling program had ended. The stories were all told. The students’ questions had been answered, and the students were on their way back to their classrooms. One fourth grade boy turned back and asked, “Do you give autographs?’ “Yes.” “I’ll get a piece of paper and be right back,” he
Golden Tales – April 8 Read More »
Writing was challenging for my son. And deciding what to write was made even more difficult when the teacher provided the prompt: “What is your favorite. . . .?” She thought she was providing an easy writing prompt, but my son was stymied. How could he decide which was his very most favorite thing? And
Favorites – April 7 Read More »
We were exploring. Marilyn and I had taken our children down to the Arroyo to explore. We weren’t sure what we were looking for, but we were exploring. The stream in the Arroyo had overflowed the banks. Sandra, my daughter, and Andy, Marilyn’s son, wanted to wade in the stream and explore the pathway through
Exploring – April 6 Read More »
The hammering above me continued throughout the day. A new roof was in process. I kept the door to my office shut as I continued work on my blog. A tremendous crash came from the kitchen and reverberated through the house. Did one of the roofers fall through my ceiling? Was someone hurt? I abandoned
Disaster Downsizing – April 5 Read More »
“May I use the phone to call home? I forgot to get some meat out of the freezer.” The staff in the office at my high school would smile and let me use the phone. My mother died when I was ten and my father subsequently married again. The size of our family expanded from
Cooking April 3, 2021 Read More »
Andy was my daughter Sandra’s best friend. He lived across the street. The two of them found many things to do. But sometimes they couldn’t decide what they wanted to do next. That is when the two little kids would sit on a large rock in Andy’s front yard. This rock was approximately two feet
Boredom – April 2, 2021 Read More »
I never thought the alphabet would create such an audacious challenge to my abilities, change my attitude and cause me to apologize for my awful frustrated expressions. I was confident that my blog would always be amazing and awesome. Then my attitude altered. I became anxious. Signing up with Bluehost was easy, but the Astra
Alphabet A to Z – April 1, 2021 Read More »
