May Your Solstice be Merry, Merry!

"We have very busy lives--or we make them very busy. There is noise and activity everywhere. Few people know how to be still and find a quiet place within themselves. From that place of silence and stillness the creative forces emerge. There we find faith, hope, strength, and wisdom. Since childhood, however, we are taught to do things. Our heads are full of noise. Silence and solitude scare most of us."

~Isabel Allende

This Makes Me Happy, Slappy!

Are You Feeling Dandy, Sandy?

Happy Birthday to my beautiful big sister!

From the Middle of Me to the Middle of You - We Will Miss You, Brother Blue

Lately I've been thinking how everything in my whole life has led me to the place where I am now. (Duh.) Everything is suddenly connected. Summer campfires of my childhood; stories, poems & songs that have stayed with me; learning how to sing in the church choir; painting pictures in my parents' basement while listening to recordings of people telling fairy tales on the record player over and over; crashing Memorial Day parades in whiteface; learning from my father that I am part of a long tradition of liars; vivid experiences that I've never forgotten; people who have inspired & touched me...

Brother Blue died this past Tuesday. Jeff got an email from a friend (thanks, Doug) and immediately forwarded it to me: Hugh M. Hill; weaved stories as Brother Blue - The Boston Globe

Twenty-five years ago I was going to a state college out in the middle of nowhere and I was pretty lost career wise. My parents wouldn't let me be a clown (I can't think why not!) so I had no idea what I wanted to do with my life. I had transferred from a small, liberal arts college in my junior year because I thought a bigger school would have more interesting majors. It didn't. It only had less interesting professors.

[Footnote: In my senior year the school forced me to declare a major in order to graduate. I looked at my transcripts to see if I had enough credits in any one subject that would add up to a major and the winner was...English (!) with a minor in...French (!)]

It was the early 1980's. To me, it seemed like the only people who had a well-defined future were the business majors. I didn't really understand what "business" was, but I had this vague perception, whether it was true or not, that all of those people were going to grow up and be stuck in offices for the rest of their lives. In this vast wasteland of pseudo-academic boredom (the guy who taught Shakespeare was a monochromatic, monotone nightmare) there were few glimmers of salvation.

The only class that I remember (I have, thankfully, blotted out most eveything else) was Francelia Butler's Kiddie Lit class, famous as a "boat" (I guess because you could float through it - or did we maybe call it a "gut"?) and it was "taught" (or performed) by an army of TA's (Teaching Assistants) and special guest stars. Francelia herself (I just love saying Francelia!) and around 300 students sat in the stadium-style classroom and watched and laughed. I was very excited to learn from our class textbook, authored by Francelia, that one of my favorite childhood rhymes probably originated right where I grew up. Now that's relevant!

One event was a visit from Margaret Hamilton - c'mon, you know - the Wicked Witch of the West in the Judy Garland Wizard of Oz? She was around 80 years old at the time and she sat on stage and regaled us with stories about green makeup and the hidden trap door that helped her melt into the floor (common knowledge now, but then not so much.) I always remembered Hamilton's visit as a highlight of my college experience, but I had forgotten that this was a Kiddie Lit event until just a while ago when I read Francelia's obit. So all these years later, I'm just now realizing that Kiddie Lit helped save my life!!!!

The next semester I became a TA myself. That was the semester that Brother Blue came to class. Here was this man, dressed like some sort of crazy jester (he has been called a "bedecked, scat-speaking story spinner") who rattled stuff and used his voice like a musical instrument and he told the story of Miss Wonderlick and I was gone, man, solid gone!

Afterwards, we "insiders" were invited for lunch at Francelia's house with Brother Blue and his wife, but I was not really an insider and I didn't think of approaching him. I was too much in awe, and besides, in those days I hadn't yet realized that you are allowed to talk to people that you admire (I still have a hard time with that.) I watched him, fascinated, from the far end of the long table, as he ate his lunch and talked to the folks around him. He was super charged. He was still in costume and seemed unable or unwilling to come down from his performance and talk like a normal person. He talked like jazz music. He was insane. I didn't know what he was. I didn't know that he had a PhD. I only knew that he was Brother Blue with a blue butterfly painted on the palm of his hand.

I rediscovered Brother Blue about 15 years later. Connie Rockman had turned me on to storytelling (thanks, Connie!) and I was running a youth storytelling club. I was at the National Storytelling Festival in Tennessee and I saw this guy standing on the main street Connecting With People. It was him. That guy from my past. Brother Blue. I was so excited. Look! It's Brother Blue! Finally I knew what he was - it all became clear. Oh my gosh! He's a storyteller!

Fifteen years older and wiser, I seized the day. I photographed him.

I seem to remember that I introduced myself and told him how much his story had touched me all those years ago. I think that Jeff took our picture together, but maybe that's just a wishful remembrance. If I can find any photos, I'll post them.

So thank you, Brother Blue, for helping to make all my life a circle, sunrise and sundown, moon rolls thru the nighttime till the daybreak comes around. (sing it, Harry) All my life's a circle; But I can't tell you why; Season's spinning round again; The years keep rollin' by.

[Footnote: By this time, I had identified that unknown something inside of me that I had been wondering about. Kind of. Anyway. I think it was Storytelling. Or maybe Collage.] (hee hee)

In the House, Mouse? Part II

Remember this?

Well things have progressed quite a bit in the mouse department since then. I sent an email to Jeff about it and he insisted I share with y'all. So here.

No one came to wake me up this morning (Sailor jumped up to my bedroom
window to sniff once or twice, but no socializing other than a quick
knead) and no one came to investigate when I got up to go to the
bathroom. I went on a cat hunt and found Sailor hiding behind the sheer
curtain near the litter box behind the recliner. He looked very excited
(shh! I'm hiding!)

Got my breakfast ready and I had just grabbed two cans of cat food and a
spoon, when Sailor came running in from the porch with a mouse in his
mouth. He ran here and there in random fashion (where do I go what do I
do?!?) with Sissy close behind while I ran around closing doors (porch,
kitchen, bedroom) so that he could not escape to a dark, inaccessible
corner.

I grabbed a garbage can lid I GOT him by the arm chair. He dropped the
mouse and I put the lid over it. I picked Sailor up and scrunched him -
he was SO proud of himself - and told him what a good boy he is. And I
gave him and Sissy breakfast at their dishes. He took two bites and
then had to go back and investigate the garbage can lid, but finally I
was able to lock them in with their breakfast while I ate my breakfast
standing up in the kitchen and thought about how to get this mouse out
of the house.

Unlike our other recent rodential visitors, this one was very lively. I
could hear it squeaking from under the lid and every once in a while he
stuck his tail out. I didn't trust my good old glass jar method here.
Usually I'm able to lift the lid, clamp down over the weakened/dying
mouse with a glass jar and then slide a little piece of cardboard under
the jar to spirit the poor little guy up and away. This method won't
work with a very lively mouse. The other problem was that the garbage
can lid was so big that I had nothing big or flat enough to slide under
it (I don't have a cookie sheet and my art supplies were locked up with
the cats and I wasn't going there.) Finally, after I was well fed, I
took an old pizza box lid (thank heaven I hadn't been to the dump yet)
and slid it under the mouse's galvanized prison (after propping the back
door open to the outside and moving the whole caboodle right up to the
door jam.)

I managed to shimmy the cardboard under the lid and then I FLUNG it
toward the outside. Poor mouse landed on some leaves on my wooden deck
and sat there, stunned. I stepped outside, closed the screen door
behind me and used the pizza box to (gently) sweep mouse onto the
garbage can lid so that I could transport him to his new home in the
leaf pile that has been accumulating under the fallen ceiling inside the
barn. Hope he's ok.

What's the Object, Science Project?

OK - I just spent way too much time over on my other blog and now I have no time left for any Morning Glory updates. Did you know that storytellers are extraordinarily busy in the autumn? Fall festivals, Halloween, etc. It's dizzying. In a good way.

Just for fun, here are some Perrigo scientists hard at work (chuckle chuckle) and I think that the red-haired guy looks like a younger and taller version of Phil:



I haven't done a lick of anything useful today.

Look in the Book, Schnook!

I keep forgetting that I co-authored a book. Jeff keeps reminding me. So I'm not really blowing my own horn here, I'm just using this space to keep track of myself. Back in the dark ages, Martha asked me to write Storycraft with her. The thing that I'm most proud of is the artwork. It's also still available from the publisher, so hey-why keep it a secret?

By the way, because of a youth storytelling club that I ran for five years, I'm quoted extensively in Children Tell Stories, by Beauty & the Beast Storytellers (Mitch Weiss and Martha Hamilton). I have never met Mitch and Martha, but I think that their coaching talents are evident from the photos of the children on the cover of their book. I'm honored that they invited me inside. Two whole pages (more or less) of fame!

Take a Chance, Hamster Dance!

For me, it all started back around the turn of the century when my cutting-edge sister was visiting with her laptop. We plugged into a telephone line and, amid much giggling, Julia turned me on to the original Hamster Dance. We listened to it a LOT (remember Sarah?)

Years later, it took me a very long time to track it down again because the original website (which I won't even dignify with a link) had, in the words of another fan, "'evolved' from pure simple joy to, to this this weird Livin-the-Vida-Alvin-and-the-Chipmonks-and-buy-the-CD thing." For those of you who need context, you can get the big picture here. Heaven's blessings fall upon Lee for being a visionary. He was the first person I'm aware of who thought to rescue one of my favorite memories by archiving it in his domain.

There is actually a really funny tribute on YouTube in which people of all ages dance for the camera in public places (airports, shopping malls, street corners, driveways, scenic overlooks, restrooms - obviously a lot of it was filmed on family vacations) and it is all set to the music of Hamster Dance. This is YouTube at its best; creativity, community, humor and family fun all come together here.

Thanks to Alice for suggesting that we all need some Hamster Dance!

How and Why, Butterfly? Part Two

Many, MANY educators are doing great things with Pourquoi stories in the classroom. This story form is easy to emulate and lots of fun. In fact, one of my childhood teachers (I wonder who?) used the theme for a creative writing unit. Somewhere in my vast collection of paper ephemera I probably have the story that I wrote. I remember that it is kind of Egyptian and involves both adultery (I read a lot of Greek myths when I was a kid - the philandering of Zeus and Aphrodite must have infiltrated my subconscious) and the origin of cats (big surprise!)

Anyway, I'm not trying to be comprehensive here. These are just a few of the creative people who have helped and inspired me with this workshop. I have provided links to the authors & artists when I think they are particularly interesting:

Nine-In-One Grr! Grr!: A Folktale from the Hmong People of Laos,
told by Blia Xiong and adapted by Cathy Spagnoli (Children’s Book Press, 1989)
I love the slightly befuddled tiger in this story and I love the sing-song refrain that she sings—you can really make it lilt and have the children sing along with you. I made a flannelboard for Nine-In-One and purposely made it primitive and cartoonish. The tiger resembles the cats I used to draw as a child—a big circle for the body, a little circle for the head and two triangles for ears. When I show this to kids, they instantly gain a lot of self confidence and lose any inhibitions they have about their drawing abilities!

How & Why Stories: World Tales Kids Can Read & Tell,
by Martha Hamilton and Mitch Weiss, (August House, 1999)
This book is one of several by Hamilton and Weiss, aka Beauty and the Beast Storytellers, which are written to help young people become storytellers. In fact, the audio version of this book showcases eight guest kid tellers ranging in age from nine to fourteen years. The book also happens to be a great resource for adult tellers. The stories are from cultures all over the world. Each story is no more than one or two pages in length and includes a short note "About the Story" and some "Tips for Telling".

Keepers of the Earth: Native American Stories and Environmental Activities for Children, by Michael J. Caduto and Joseph Bruchac (Fulcrum, 1989)
Native American cultures are a rich source of how & why stories. The authors provide thought-provoking activities as well as scientific information related to each story. Other books in this series include: Keepers of the Animals, Keepers of the Night, Keepers of Life.

Folktale Themes and Activities for Children, Volume 1: Pourquoi Tales,
by Anne Marie Kraus (Libraries Unlimited, 1998)
This book is part of the Teacher Idea Press “Learning Through Folklore Series” and the author has packed this book with fun and useful activities. Her annotated bibliography is cross-indexed by culture and by topic and gives enough myriad details to help you find just the right story for any program. She also addresses the fact that many how & why stories are still part of a living culture and she provides inspiration that should help workshop leaders convey a sense of respect for the original tellers of these tales. On page 49 she shares various ways that pourquoi stories can be used to involve children in group storytelling. See also pp. 32-34.

Book of Greek Myths, by Ingri and Edgar Parin D’Aulaire (Doubleday, 1962)
This is a favorite childhood book for myself and for many other people (yes-it’s the tall orange and yellow book with the horses on the cover.) You may be tempted to discount Greek myths for a how & why program because they are too “overdone” or “not primitive enough.” I however, find Greek mythology to be a very satisfying source of pourquoi stories. If I have extra time left over at the end of a program, I like to tell the story of hundred-eyed Argus, Hera’s faithful servant who died while serving her. To memorialize him, Hera, queen of the gods, caused the eyes of Argus to appear on the tail of the peacock.

Landscape, sound recording by Coyote Oldman (Xenotrope Music-BMI, 1988)
Coyote Oldman is Michael Graham Allen and Barry Stramp. These musicians create atmospheric melodies with primitive flutes, bells and pan pipes. Use this recording, or one like it, as background music for the Time Travel exercise. The first track, “People of the Glacier” is almost fourteen minutes long and provides ample time for a group leader to narrate a journey back through the ages.

Changes: Native American Flute Music, sound recording by R. Carlos Nakai (Canyon Records, 1983)
R. Carlos Nakai is of Navajo-Ute heritage and has become well known for his personal musical interpretations using traditional musical forms of the Native peoples of North America. Nakai’s recordings are relatively easy to find. The selections here are quiet and haunting and many of them were composed outside in the open air. For me, these pieces truly evoke an earlier time; the flute is the only instrument used and it echoes as if it is being played in a desert canyon.

“Teaching With Pourquoi Tales,” by Kama Einhorn & Dana Truby, Scholastic Instructor, April 2001, pp. 51-54

Multicultural Folktales: Stories to Tell Young Children,
by Judy Sierra (Oryx, 1991)
I'm not sure, but I think this contains a useful concise section on telling stories with flannelboards. Anyway, it's a good book.

The Flannel Board Storytelling Book, by Judy Sierra (H. W. Wilson; 2nd Revised edition, 1997)
Judy Sierra expands on her earlier work describing construction and use of flannelboards for storytelling.

Soapbox moment: Don't forget to check at your local library for some of these books. Even if your library doesn't own them, they should still be able to borrow them for you through the magic of interlibrary loan. Interlibrary loan (in which your library finds a book at another library, the other library sends it to your library, you borrow the book and read it, you return the book to your library and your library sends it back where it came from) is a library service that has been around for at least 100 years and is still going strong. So USE it! Your tax dollars at work, folks! (I know that I'm preaching to the choir with a lot of you. Why else would you even be here?)