I often admire the words of other writers and wish I could pen things in such an eloquent way. I also sometimes listen to myself and wish I could say things differently. Why is it that we seem to say little things that hurt other people when in all actuality it is ourselves we are most frustrated with and wish was different? I am thin-skinned and I try so hard not to be. So, why is it that I don't consider that other people might be a bit thin-skinned, too?
When I was in the classroom daily (just last year!), I would often have what seemed like a productive day of mentoring students toward inquiring, learning, discovering, practicing, progressing, and growing in knowledge. Yet, one student might be having a 'less-than-studious-attitude' day and I seemed to dwell on the hurdle that we didn't overcome instead of the twenty-eight or twenty-nine others in the room we did. I have met with more than a dozen sets of parents (one night it was thirty-eight!) on parent conference day and all but one of those meetings would be a positive, supportive, growing relationship. Yet, that one encounter which was unpleasant seems to be what stands out in my mind - the one I hang on to time after time. I know that one reason I do this is because I wanted to be the best teacher that student had on any given day. I wanted to be the best teacher that student had during that year. I wanted to be the best teacher that student had in his/her educational career. While I know that isn't always possible, it has always been my goal to strive to be the best I can and to serve the needs of my students. So, negative criticism or a feeling of failure seems to linger with me because I usually see it as a way of pointing me toward improvement. Therefore, at times I was (and am) thin-skinned.
There are traits about ours parents, our siblings, and ourselves of which we are somewhat less than proud. We try all our lives to avoid the behaviors which are manifested in these traits which we don't desire. Yet, those old habits and behaviors still pop up and rear their ugly heads at times. It happened to me this morning and my sweet husband jokingly pointed it out to me. Immediately I was frustrated, agravated, and ashamed. Of course, I apologized. Yet, it hurt my feelings a little bit that I didn't realize I what I was doing and avoid it - that I had to have it pointed out to me. I was being thin skinned.
The interesting thing is that God has a way of nudging us into the realization that we need to improve ourselves and then tends to drive it home so we will better remember it - in hopes that there won't be a next time. When I sat down to read my emails and visit my favorite blogs, I stumbled across Ann's Caring Bridge update. She has been an inspiration to hundreds of us time and time again as she has been fighting the giant known as cancer. I was lucky enough to have her son in class during the worst year of her life when she was battling the giant the hardest. What a blessing she and her family were to me the entire time I was teaching at that little rural school. Below is an excerpt from Ann's update:
"Thin-skinned. I started thinking about how thin-skinned we can be sometimes. How we take the smallest thing and make it into a mountain. We let one word, one look ruin our day, cloud our vision, and make us into someone we would rather not be. Think of the last time someone said something to make you mad. How did you react? Did you let it consume your day? Chances are you just said yes. You probably allowed it to eat away at the precious time God has given you. Instead of spending time enjoying the company of your family at the end of the day, you griped about something (you insert the name) said. We are all guilty. Me...not as much as anymore.
I believe God has given us time here to do a lot of things and being thin-skinned is not one of them. Can you imagine where we would be if Jesus had been thin-skinned? Oooh, not a good thought. Just think the first time someone ridiculed him, he could have said, "Forget it. I enjoy making furniture. It won't talk back, criticize me, or crucify me. I'll just go home and get back to the business of being a carpenter." I am so glad that His love for His father kept him from quitting.
We need to stand tall each day in the glory of HIS grace and mercy. We need to let His love consume us not some words that fall out of someone's mouth. We need to concentrate on the blessings He showers us with DAILY!
Today has been a great day because my Lord and Savior continues to use the tragedies of cancer to teach me His sweet lessons of life."
Isn't that moving? By the way, Ann is doing well and her scans show her to be cancer free now. Thanks so much, Ann, for reminding me of the things God tries to tell me frequently and I choose not to pay attention.
Since I am writing this on 9/11, I think I should take part of the message that Ann shares and apply it to this day's experience. I've read magazine and newspaper articles, seen television tributes, read blog postings in remembrance of those who experienced the terrorist attacks. When I read the words of a widow, I am thankful for my own blessings and wish there was something more than prayer that I could do to comfort her loss. When I see photos of children who miss their parents, I am thankful for my own and feel blessed that we have one another while I also wish there was more I could do to fill the void in those children's lives. I know that God didn't plan or even implement those terrorist attacks. Yet, I do hope He is using the horror to make something good - right now the good thing is that we are more aware of how fortunate we are to have our freedom and the many blessings in our lives. To paraphrase Ann's words, God is using the tragedies of terrorists to teach me sweet lessons of life.
Sunday, September 11, 2011
Service Is Important - Follow Up
I ordered new phones for Mike and me last week. We were due for upgrades earlier in the summer. However, I didn't really want or think I needed a new phone. I must have reached old age because I tend to like what is comfortable and familiar more often these days. Mike did sort of need a new phone because his screen on his was wonky from too much time in his pocket in a hot warehouse where he has sweated more than usual due to the unbelievably hot temperatures this summer. For some reason, I procrastinated in upgrading, though.
I think it was probably because the upgrade wasn't urgent for me and, like most people, I tend to think the world revolves around moi! Oh, I did get online and do a bit of browsing. I even went to the store about a month ago to ask questions and get some ideas. I think what nudged me toward getting Mike a new phone is that I thought I could do that as a birthday treat. Well, that and the fact that I got a couple of email advertisements offering pretty good deals on phones.
When I went to one of the local stores - it seems there is one on almost every corner these days - I left frustrated because the young sales representative didn't seem to want to talk to me about anything but the top of the line, fancy, cutting edge products. I even explained the situation that I wasn't so much interested in the newest trend but was shopping for my husband. Rather quickly she was sort of pushing me out the door and moving on to the young woman who was waiting with the neon hair, tattoos, and multiple (painful looking) piercings. I guess I seemed even more old-fogey than my khaki-pants-and-sweater-teacher-attire first advertised.
So, last Saturday I opened up the website and got the customer service phone number and gave the company a call. The young man who happened to answer was a gem. He was personable, helpful, and patient. He guided me through selecting phones that might fit our lifestyles and personalities. He made me feel as if I got the most economical deal. He listened to my questions and offered wonderful suggestions. I got all that good personal service while I was sitting in front of my laptop looking at the suggestions Justin was making and I was wearing one of Mike's T-shirts and some old baggy shorts. You can read more about that HERE.
Somehow, after the order left the capable hands of Justin, things seemed to go downhill, though. Justin promised me that I should look for the FedEx folks to deliver our phones on Thursday. So, when I got a voicemail message from them right after lunchtime, I got a smile on my face. The caller gave me a series of numbers to use for my inquiry and said that the address was incomplete on the box. So, she wanted me to call. When I called and waded through several recordings and touched one and two a couple or three times, a fellow came on the line and asked me to identify myself and give the number I had been provided. He asked me my zip code and address and then asked me to repeat the confirmation number. Then, he told me I would need to call Verizon to get them to straighten out the address confusion and HUNG UP before I could even complete asking the question I had begun to utter! After uttering an ugly curse word to describe this service representative, I looked up the number again and called back.
This time I got a nice woman who explained that the package could not be delivered because there was an incomplete address but I could always go by and pick my package up at the station if it was urgent that I have it today...or FedEx would try to deliver it tomorrow. When I asked where the station was so I could just go pick it up, she said, "Olympia," and started to give a more detailed address. I interrupted her and asked, "Where is Olympia?" Her response was, "Washington." Now, I live in a little town in middle Tennessee. So, needless to say, I was a bit flumoxed! The woman asked me what is my zip code and gave a short chuckle when I told her. Then, she said, "Well, I guess you won't be picking it up this afternoon, huh?" At that point, even though I was steamed that the other jerk had not explained this, I chuckled as well. This woman had been kind enough to explain the entire situation before referring me to Verizon to get them to re-route the package and that made all the difference in the world.
I called Verizon, then, and began probing them to find out how such a mistake could have been made. It seems that the packer simply typed "Box 1 of 2" into the address label machine and printed it out. The previous order was being shipped to Olypia, Washington and that is the zip code on it. I'm sure that the representative on the other end understood my frustration and promised to get the package to me by Monday and was appologetic that I might not get the phone in time for my husband's birthday.
To add insult to injury, the other phone I'd ordered was shipped with the correct address label. However, when the FedEx delivery man tried to leave it, he went to my mother-in-law's house. To further cause frustration, my nephew had ordered a phone to be delivered on the same day and the FedEx guy had tried to leave it at the same locale. My nephew was expecting the delivery and saw the truck and was madly waving to get the driver's attention but the driver simply waved and kept racing out the driveway to get to his next delivery destination.
The next day, I got a voicemail message from my mother-in-law calling the FedEx delivery man an unflattering name. It seems he returned to her house - even after I had called their office to clarify where to deliver. He knocked on the front door but before she could get there to open it, he was driving away! Luckily, my nephew saw the FedEx truck pull in and blocked the drive. He had to do a bit of wrangling, I think, but he got our phones.
So, while I don't have warm fuzzy feelings toward FedEx right now, my attitude about Verizon is still in tact. Why? Well, after my phone call to them at almost 8 P.M., they rerouted my package and the two phones (well, three, if we count the nephew's) were delivered together.
Update: My nephew called and told me that he never wanted me to get as frustrated with him as I did with Verizon and FedEx. He thinks I must have given a "good ass-chewing" to get them to send a package from across the country to be delivered before lunchtime the following day!
I think it was probably because the upgrade wasn't urgent for me and, like most people, I tend to think the world revolves around moi! Oh, I did get online and do a bit of browsing. I even went to the store about a month ago to ask questions and get some ideas. I think what nudged me toward getting Mike a new phone is that I thought I could do that as a birthday treat. Well, that and the fact that I got a couple of email advertisements offering pretty good deals on phones.
When I went to one of the local stores - it seems there is one on almost every corner these days - I left frustrated because the young sales representative didn't seem to want to talk to me about anything but the top of the line, fancy, cutting edge products. I even explained the situation that I wasn't so much interested in the newest trend but was shopping for my husband. Rather quickly she was sort of pushing me out the door and moving on to the young woman who was waiting with the neon hair, tattoos, and multiple (painful looking) piercings. I guess I seemed even more old-fogey than my khaki-pants-and-sweater-teacher-attire first advertised.
So, last Saturday I opened up the website and got the customer service phone number and gave the company a call. The young man who happened to answer was a gem. He was personable, helpful, and patient. He guided me through selecting phones that might fit our lifestyles and personalities. He made me feel as if I got the most economical deal. He listened to my questions and offered wonderful suggestions. I got all that good personal service while I was sitting in front of my laptop looking at the suggestions Justin was making and I was wearing one of Mike's T-shirts and some old baggy shorts. You can read more about that HERE.
Somehow, after the order left the capable hands of Justin, things seemed to go downhill, though. Justin promised me that I should look for the FedEx folks to deliver our phones on Thursday. So, when I got a voicemail message from them right after lunchtime, I got a smile on my face. The caller gave me a series of numbers to use for my inquiry and said that the address was incomplete on the box. So, she wanted me to call. When I called and waded through several recordings and touched one and two a couple or three times, a fellow came on the line and asked me to identify myself and give the number I had been provided. He asked me my zip code and address and then asked me to repeat the confirmation number. Then, he told me I would need to call Verizon to get them to straighten out the address confusion and HUNG UP before I could even complete asking the question I had begun to utter! After uttering an ugly curse word to describe this service representative, I looked up the number again and called back.
This time I got a nice woman who explained that the package could not be delivered because there was an incomplete address but I could always go by and pick my package up at the station if it was urgent that I have it today...or FedEx would try to deliver it tomorrow. When I asked where the station was so I could just go pick it up, she said, "Olympia," and started to give a more detailed address. I interrupted her and asked, "Where is Olympia?" Her response was, "Washington." Now, I live in a little town in middle Tennessee. So, needless to say, I was a bit flumoxed! The woman asked me what is my zip code and gave a short chuckle when I told her. Then, she said, "Well, I guess you won't be picking it up this afternoon, huh?" At that point, even though I was steamed that the other jerk had not explained this, I chuckled as well. This woman had been kind enough to explain the entire situation before referring me to Verizon to get them to re-route the package and that made all the difference in the world.
I called Verizon, then, and began probing them to find out how such a mistake could have been made. It seems that the packer simply typed "Box 1 of 2" into the address label machine and printed it out. The previous order was being shipped to Olypia, Washington and that is the zip code on it. I'm sure that the representative on the other end understood my frustration and promised to get the package to me by Monday and was appologetic that I might not get the phone in time for my husband's birthday.
To add insult to injury, the other phone I'd ordered was shipped with the correct address label. However, when the FedEx delivery man tried to leave it, he went to my mother-in-law's house. To further cause frustration, my nephew had ordered a phone to be delivered on the same day and the FedEx guy had tried to leave it at the same locale. My nephew was expecting the delivery and saw the truck and was madly waving to get the driver's attention but the driver simply waved and kept racing out the driveway to get to his next delivery destination.
The next day, I got a voicemail message from my mother-in-law calling the FedEx delivery man an unflattering name. It seems he returned to her house - even after I had called their office to clarify where to deliver. He knocked on the front door but before she could get there to open it, he was driving away! Luckily, my nephew saw the FedEx truck pull in and blocked the drive. He had to do a bit of wrangling, I think, but he got our phones.
So, while I don't have warm fuzzy feelings toward FedEx right now, my attitude about Verizon is still in tact. Why? Well, after my phone call to them at almost 8 P.M., they rerouted my package and the two phones (well, three, if we count the nephew's) were delivered together.
Update: My nephew called and told me that he never wanted me to get as frustrated with him as I did with Verizon and FedEx. He thinks I must have given a "good ass-chewing" to get them to send a package from across the country to be delivered before lunchtime the following day!
Saturday, September 10, 2011
Service Is Important
We live in an age of technology. No longer are we considered the manufacturing capital of the world. Instead, our country has become one of service industry. Sometimes that service is...well, stellar and sometimes it just stinks. I think the reputation of the company, the products they offer, and the entire industry sometimes rests on the shoulders of the front line of service.
I just want to say that last Saturday morning I experienced a situation where I was given some of that stellar service. The royal treatment was given to me by a young man named Justin at Verizon. I felt so good about the service he provided that I went to their website and provided feedback in hopes that he might reap the rewards of doing a good job.
I know, I know, performing your best in everything you do should, and usually is, reward enough. However, it really didn't take me long to provide a little feedback to his company to let folks know that Justin made me feel confident in the place which provides my phone service. So, I want to encourage you to do the same when you have the opportunity.
It might even make you feel like you are giving your best, too!
I just want to say that last Saturday morning I experienced a situation where I was given some of that stellar service. The royal treatment was given to me by a young man named Justin at Verizon. I felt so good about the service he provided that I went to their website and provided feedback in hopes that he might reap the rewards of doing a good job.
I know, I know, performing your best in everything you do should, and usually is, reward enough. However, it really didn't take me long to provide a little feedback to his company to let folks know that Justin made me feel confident in the place which provides my phone service. So, I want to encourage you to do the same when you have the opportunity.
It might even make you feel like you are giving your best, too!
Tuesday, September 6, 2011
Long Weekend
I just love long weekends, don't you? It feels like some sort of special gift to have that extra day to loll around sleeping late and doing all the things you want to do at a leisurely pace. Somehow I seem to enjoy those long holiday weekends almost more than I do vacation times. Why is that? Maybe I appreciate that time a little more because I know it is short and precious - not like what seems like a long vacation time. When I have long vacation days stretching out in front of me, it seems like I just waste and fritter them away. I don't seem to get everything accomplished that I intend to tackle and I don't get to rest and relax like I want to either. Why is that?
I'm really glad to have Labor Day and a holiday weekend. Here are some reasons why:
1. I get to relax and sleep late and loll around luxuriously.
2. I get to spend more time with my sweet husband.
3. I have time to gather with my family and enjoy their company.
4. I tend to tackle a small project and will get it accomplished or at least make big headway with it.
5. I am thankful to have a job that I love to go back to after I have a little time off!
I'm really glad to have Labor Day and a holiday weekend. Here are some reasons why:
1. I get to relax and sleep late and loll around luxuriously.
2. I get to spend more time with my sweet husband.
3. I have time to gather with my family and enjoy their company.
4. I tend to tackle a small project and will get it accomplished or at least make big headway with it.
5. I am thankful to have a job that I love to go back to after I have a little time off!
Monday, September 5, 2011
Pillow Crafting
Back in the summer my daughter-in-law, Jessica brought some pillows, some fabric remnants that she had purchased and came to craft. We wound up creating plaques so she could have a unique shower gift for her brother and his future bride. (You can read all about that HERE.) So, yesterday, while our husbands were out in the wilds (actually up on the hill behind our house) hunting for helpless little birds (it is dove hunting season), we did some pillow crafting.
On one of our jaunts to the fabric store, Jessica had selected a pretty linen fabric which was a remnant that she got for less than $2. So, we took her bargain fabric and a couple of pillows that she had used (she thinks she picked these up at the dollar store several years ago for a song) on her bed for decoration and now she is developing a whole new look! To get the most bang for her buck, we used a remnant that I had in my fabric stash for several years as the pillow backing.
Rather than take her pillows apart, we decided to simply cover them. So, she measured the pillows and cut her fabric pieces - a couple of squares of her pretty linen print and a couple of squares of the fabric from my stash. Earlier in the week I had picked up somecheap inexpensive trim at JoAnn's Etc. (6 yards on a spool for $2.99). It looks sort of like miniature pom-pom trim I have seen on curtains or something. So, I stitched it onto the edges of her linen fabric. Then, I stitched the backing square onto that and turned it. Together we folded and tucked her pillow into the new cover and viola! A new look that she thinks is "more grown-up."
She had some left-over fabric and I suggested that we put it to use, as well. Why waste such pretty linen fabric? So, we created a panel pillow with some ruching like the ones Suzanne inspires over at Just Another Hangup.
I think it turned out really beautifully! (It looks pretty darn good on the sofa in my den, too) Jessica learned that pulling up the gathering threads is not quite as easy as it looks. She still seemed inspired and even asked me how much an inexpensive sewing machine might cost. So, I think she might turn out to be a crafter at heart, too! We adapted the pattern Suzzane posted just a little because the left-over piece of linen was 11" in width. So, our ruching is a little bit more narrow. When she got ready to cut a piece for the back of the pillow, we realized that we didn't have a piece quite big enough for our pillow. So, we had to be a little creative and it turned out to make the pillow look even more like a designer accessory.
Jessica cut two pieces of the fabric using the fullest length we had left. We turned it under a quarter inch and then another inch and stitched it to have a finished edge on both pieces. Then, put those where they would overlap in the middle and sewed the raw edges to the pillow front. Next, Jessica turned it right side out and popped in a pillow that we made out of an old scrap of a sheet that I had used to line window treatments in this project HERE. I made three button holes and Jessica sewed on three wooden buttons. So, now the back looks like a designer piece, too!
I guess they do look pretty good on their bed at Jessica and Bryan's house, though. What do you think?
Jessica and I made a pretty good team. I had found a tapestry panel last weekend and decided that it might make a good pillow, too. When I got the trim we used in her pillow, I got a couple more pieces of trim but none seemed to make this panel look like I wanted. Then, I remembered that a couple of the throw pillows on the sofa downstairs were ripped and the stuffing leaking out.
I thought the fringed edge would make a good trim for my fall pillow panel. Well, somehow in the disassembly, I must have been a little too destructive and the fringe sort of fell in the floor in little piles instead of a long strip. There was one pretty long strip, though.
So, I stitched the fringe around the edge of my panel. Then, I cut one part of the old sofa pillow down to fit the panel and stitched it to the back. Jessica stuffed it (with some of the stuffing from the old sofa pillows) while I was doing some stitching on her pillows and I got a new pillow with a fall motif for my den.
On one of our jaunts to the fabric store, Jessica had selected a pretty linen fabric which was a remnant that she got for less than $2. So, we took her bargain fabric and a couple of pillows that she had used (she thinks she picked these up at the dollar store several years ago for a song) on her bed for decoration and now she is developing a whole new look! To get the most bang for her buck, we used a remnant that I had in my fabric stash for several years as the pillow backing.
Rather than take her pillows apart, we decided to simply cover them. So, she measured the pillows and cut her fabric pieces - a couple of squares of her pretty linen print and a couple of squares of the fabric from my stash. Earlier in the week I had picked up some
It looks pretty good in the chair in my den!
Here is a close-up of the two fabrics and the petite pom-pom trim.
Jessica stitched the opening together by hand so that it would have a smooth, custom-made look. I think this might have been a new experience for her.
She had a look of concentration on her face most of the time - but a smile peeked through sometimes!
She had some left-over fabric and I suggested that we put it to use, as well. Why waste such pretty linen fabric? So, we created a panel pillow with some ruching like the ones Suzanne inspires over at Just Another Hangup.
I think it turned out really beautifully! (It looks pretty darn good on the sofa in my den, too) Jessica learned that pulling up the gathering threads is not quite as easy as it looks. She still seemed inspired and even asked me how much an inexpensive sewing machine might cost. So, I think she might turn out to be a crafter at heart, too! We adapted the pattern Suzzane posted just a little because the left-over piece of linen was 11" in width. So, our ruching is a little bit more narrow. When she got ready to cut a piece for the back of the pillow, we realized that we didn't have a piece quite big enough for our pillow. So, we had to be a little creative and it turned out to make the pillow look even more like a designer accessory.
Jessica cut two pieces of the fabric using the fullest length we had left. We turned it under a quarter inch and then another inch and stitched it to have a finished edge on both pieces. Then, put those where they would overlap in the middle and sewed the raw edges to the pillow front. Next, Jessica turned it right side out and popped in a pillow that we made out of an old scrap of a sheet that I had used to line window treatments in this project HERE. I made three button holes and Jessica sewed on three wooden buttons. So, now the back looks like a designer piece, too!
I had a hard time watching them go out the door, since they looked so good in my den chairs!
Their new "grown-up" looking bed.
Jessica and I made a pretty good team. I had found a tapestry panel last weekend and decided that it might make a good pillow, too. When I got the trim we used in her pillow, I got a couple more pieces of trim but none seemed to make this panel look like I wanted. Then, I remembered that a couple of the throw pillows on the sofa downstairs were ripped and the stuffing leaking out.
So, I got one of them and began to take it apart.
I thought the fringed edge would make a good trim for my fall pillow panel. Well, somehow in the disassembly, I must have been a little too destructive and the fringe sort of fell in the floor in little piles instead of a long strip. There was one pretty long strip, though.
Here are the two sides of the pillow and a strip of the fringe after I disassembled it.
So, I stitched the fringe around the edge of my panel. Then, I cut one part of the old sofa pillow down to fit the panel and stitched it to the back. Jessica stuffed it (with some of the stuffing from the old sofa pillows) while I was doing some stitching on her pillows and I got a new pillow with a fall motif for my den.
Recycling at its finest!
Saturday, August 27, 2011
Things For Which I'm Thankful
Over the years when I'm struggling and feeling sorry for myself - or just generally negative or weepy or down-and-out... Somehow God has shown me that I need to start looking at the things I'm really thankful to Him for providing in my life.
Why is it that I ignore this mindset and am sohard-headed willful and try to forge my way through life without God's will for me? It never fails, though, that He comes along and gets my attention and helps me to refocus. Sometimes it is with a gentle little nudge. Sometimes it is simply by putting someone in my path who reminds me of this. More often it is by bonking me over the head several times and making me go, "Ah Ha!" Guess which one is was this time?
Here is a start of some things I am thankful for:
1. My husband who loves me and honors me and supports me.
2. My parents who taught me right from wrong by living it.
3. My children who have turned out alright in spite of all my mistakes.
4. My children's spouses who love them and make them be better people.
5. My husband's children who love him (and me, because he loves me).
6. A job which keeps me thinking and learning and seeing the world in a fresh way.
7. Simple treasures like cooling breezes, flower blooms, and fresh smelling fragrances.
8. Opportunities for children to smile, giggle, and laugh out loud.
9. Hugs when I am floundering.
10.Wise words spoken through gentle lips.
I could go on and on with my list. Maybe that is what I need to do all day long today...
Why is it that I ignore this mindset and am so
Here is a start of some things I am thankful for:
1. My husband who loves me and honors me and supports me.
2. My parents who taught me right from wrong by living it.
3. My children who have turned out alright in spite of all my mistakes.
4. My children's spouses who love them and make them be better people.
5. My husband's children who love him (and me, because he loves me).
6. A job which keeps me thinking and learning and seeing the world in a fresh way.
7. Simple treasures like cooling breezes, flower blooms, and fresh smelling fragrances.
8. Opportunities for children to smile, giggle, and laugh out loud.
9. Hugs when I am floundering.
10.Wise words spoken through gentle lips.
I could go on and on with my list. Maybe that is what I need to do all day long today...
Monday, August 22, 2011
Writer's Envy
I cannot remember the time when I didn't consider myself to be 'A Writer.' From quite a young age my parents indulged me and would encourage and listen (or at least pretend to listen and "um..." and "aha..." and nod and praise) to what I wrote - even when it was just scribbling on the page long before I learned to form conventional letters and words. Not that I consider myself to be 'A REAL Writer' by any means - you know, one that other people will really read or follow or perhaps even consider publishing! Even so, I still enjoy the feeling I get from putting thoughts on a page - even a virtual page - and the challenge I feel at selecting just the right word or phrase. I feel a sense of accomplishment and an attitude of satisfaction when I express myself - even when I don't believe I have a REAL audience.
That being said, I have also admired the written word and appreciate folks who can spin a yarn and turn a phrase to express themselves and those who have an identifiable voice - especially those who capture that 'something' which is easily relatable. One of those folks for me is Rick Bragg.
Maybe it is because he is a southerner and I am a dyed-in-the-wool southern woman who can identify with his brand of illustrating that with words. Maybe it is because we are about the same age and have a shared body of cultural iconic history. More than likely it is because he is truly a master of the craft of writing and is worthy of envy.
Another of my favorite things is the Southern Living magazine. Recently, this favorite has featured one of my other favorites - Rick Bragg. So, I have two wonderful things rolled into one fabulous package.
The August issue of the magazine has a series of writings by this man relating the experience of surviving a tornado. I have read it over and over. Each time it humbles me that I am so fortunate that I did not have to weather such an experience. I also envy the way Bragg describes the experience.
Almost nothing stood.
Where the awful winds bore down, massive oaks, 100 years old, were shoved over like stems of grass, and great pines, as big around as 55-gallon drums, snapped like sticks. Church sanctuaries, built on the Rock of Ages, tumbled into random piles of brick. Houses, echoing with the footfalls of generations, came apart, and blew away like paper. Whole communities, carefully planned, splintered into chaos. Restaurants and supermarkets, gas stations and corner stores, all disintegrated, glass storefronts scattered like diamonds on black asphalt. It was as if the very curve of the Earth was altered, horizons erased altogether, the landscape so ruined and unfamiliar that those who ran from this thing, some of them, could not find their way home.
We are accustomed to storms, here where the cool air drifts south to collide with the warm, rising damp from the Gulf, where black clouds roil and spin and unleash hell on Earth. But this was different, a gothic monster off the scale of our experience and even our imagination, a thing of freakish size and power that tore through state after state and heart after Southern heart, killing hundreds, hurting thousands, even affecting, perhaps forever, how we look at the sky.
But the same geography that left us in the path of this destruction also created, across generations, a way of life that would not come to pieces inside that storm, nailed together from old-fashioned things like human kindness, courage, utter selflessness, and, yes, defiance, even standing inside a roofless house.
As Southerners, we know that a man with a chain saw is worth 10 with a clipboard, that there is no hurt in this world, even in the storm of the century, that cannot be comforted with a casserole, and that faith, in the hereafter or in neighbors who help you through the here and now, cannot be knocked down.
If I was still in a classroom mentoring students toward writing proficiency, I would probably use this as a touchstone text. It would be one each student had a copy of, pasted into his/her writer's daybook, and referred back to almost daily. It shows his mastery at sentence structure. It shows a rich descriptive which captures an emotion and an experience, which allows the reader to almost experience the writer's own. The use of figurative language and literary devices transports the mind's eye to another place and time. The imagery appeals to senses beyond just the simplistic words on the page to allow readers to almost smell and feel and taste and hear the author's experience.
I wish I could do that.
* If you would like to read the entire feature, you can go HERE. Enjoy!
That being said, I have also admired the written word and appreciate folks who can spin a yarn and turn a phrase to express themselves and those who have an identifiable voice - especially those who capture that 'something' which is easily relatable. One of those folks for me is Rick Bragg.
Maybe it is because he is a southerner and I am a dyed-in-the-wool southern woman who can identify with his brand of illustrating that with words. Maybe it is because we are about the same age and have a shared body of cultural iconic history. More than likely it is because he is truly a master of the craft of writing and is worthy of envy.
Another of my favorite things is the Southern Living magazine. Recently, this favorite has featured one of my other favorites - Rick Bragg. So, I have two wonderful things rolled into one fabulous package.
The August issue of the magazine has a series of writings by this man relating the experience of surviving a tornado. I have read it over and over. Each time it humbles me that I am so fortunate that I did not have to weather such an experience. I also envy the way Bragg describes the experience.
Almost nothing stood.
Where the awful winds bore down, massive oaks, 100 years old, were shoved over like stems of grass, and great pines, as big around as 55-gallon drums, snapped like sticks. Church sanctuaries, built on the Rock of Ages, tumbled into random piles of brick. Houses, echoing with the footfalls of generations, came apart, and blew away like paper. Whole communities, carefully planned, splintered into chaos. Restaurants and supermarkets, gas stations and corner stores, all disintegrated, glass storefronts scattered like diamonds on black asphalt. It was as if the very curve of the Earth was altered, horizons erased altogether, the landscape so ruined and unfamiliar that those who ran from this thing, some of them, could not find their way home.
We are accustomed to storms, here where the cool air drifts south to collide with the warm, rising damp from the Gulf, where black clouds roil and spin and unleash hell on Earth. But this was different, a gothic monster off the scale of our experience and even our imagination, a thing of freakish size and power that tore through state after state and heart after Southern heart, killing hundreds, hurting thousands, even affecting, perhaps forever, how we look at the sky.
But the same geography that left us in the path of this destruction also created, across generations, a way of life that would not come to pieces inside that storm, nailed together from old-fashioned things like human kindness, courage, utter selflessness, and, yes, defiance, even standing inside a roofless house.
As Southerners, we know that a man with a chain saw is worth 10 with a clipboard, that there is no hurt in this world, even in the storm of the century, that cannot be comforted with a casserole, and that faith, in the hereafter or in neighbors who help you through the here and now, cannot be knocked down.
If I was still in a classroom mentoring students toward writing proficiency, I would probably use this as a touchstone text. It would be one each student had a copy of, pasted into his/her writer's daybook, and referred back to almost daily. It shows his mastery at sentence structure. It shows a rich descriptive which captures an emotion and an experience, which allows the reader to almost experience the writer's own. The use of figurative language and literary devices transports the mind's eye to another place and time. The imagery appeals to senses beyond just the simplistic words on the page to allow readers to almost smell and feel and taste and hear the author's experience.
I wish I could do that.
* If you would like to read the entire feature, you can go HERE. Enjoy!
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