I come from a long line of storytellers. To me, a good oral storyteller is hard to come by these days. We do not seem to spend enough time together to regale one another with stories like I remember. But when we take the time, magic happens.
I have written here how much my grandchildren love the stories I make up. They are fly by the seat of my pants kinds of stories and by the next day, I have forgotten most of them. The key is, however, they remember.
When our first grandson was born, at bedtime we always retreated to bed and I told him a story. This went on for years. Now he is a senior in high school and he still remembers, but the stories have ended. I have decided to write a story for him when he graduates about the coming of age of the protagonist of these made up stories. I know he will like it.
I really enjoy fellow bloggers’ fiction and poetry they so generously share in their blogs. I recently read a serial written by Pete over at BentleyPete that was a bit of a ghost story. Click here to read Moving Day if you are not already following him.
Pete’s story helped me recall all the ghost stories we were told growing up. Sitting around the campfire listening to scary stories perhaps helped me fall in love with a good story. So many urban legends (our stories pre-date that term) about local people and the mysterious circumstances and unexplainable events that haunted them. I remember one about three coffins in the sky floating over the mountains, the aliens my dad saw, the body of a drowning victim never recovered, the mysterious heavy weight on the trunk of a local man’s car, etc. Then there were the Appalachian mountain legends — the Brown Mountain Lights, the Creekfield Woman among many, many others. All fodder for a good ghost story.
The ability to spin a good story and make you feel like you are there is a well honed craft. I am really enjoying Teagan’s latest serial where she uses suggestions of objects from her readers for inclusion in her serials. Her latest endeavor has us boarding the Delta Pearl for a riverboat adventure. If you are not reading along, you should check it out.
Linda G. Hill who so generously hosts writing challenges is a successful writer and editor. Where does she find the time?
I started investigating which fellow bloggers have work published available to purchase. I have several selections in my shopping cart on Amazon to buy. I want to support those writers who so generously share their work for me to enjoy.
To those who write here — thank you. I look forward to discovering other things you have written and supporting your efforts. I also look forward to all I have yet to discover. Reading what you write is not only enjoyable, but it also makes me a better writer.
This is my first attempt at Song Lyric Sunday, currently hosted by Jim Adams. All of the rules for this blogging challenge and all the contributed lyrics for today can be found by clicking here.
The prompt Dream / Lullaby / Sleep intrigued me. A rich topic for songwriters and singers as well. I thought of all the lyrics and songs easy to recall when I remembered this one.
The song I chose was both written and recorded by Jewel.
Jewel Kilcher was born in Utah and moved to Alaska to live with her father after her parents were divorced. She and her father sometimes performed in bars and roadhouses from the age of 8. She left home at 15 and at the age of 16 she enrolled in the Interlochen Arts Academy in Michigan where she studied operatic voice. (Jewel (singer) early life. Wikipedia.org. Retrieved 2019-08-25.)
The song I chose is Sov Got (sleep Well). It is featured on her album Lullaby. It is rhythmically beautiful in any language.
The song was written in Swedish. I have provided the lyrics for Swedish and the English translation as published on the Jewel Wiki. ( “Sov Gott (Sleep Well“. Retrieved 2019-08-25. Welcome to the Jewel Wiki. )
SWEDISH
Sov gott, vackra delfin
Sov gott, jag vita varg
Vi har kärlek för varandra
För varandra
För alltid
Sov gott, vackra delfin
Sov gott, jag vita varg
Vi har kärlek för varandra
För varandra
För alltid
Sov gott
Sov gott, jag vita varg
Morgonen vaknar
Då kysser vi
Kysser vi, Kysser vi,
Sov gott
Sov gott, för alltid
Sov gott, vackra delfin
Sov gott, jag vita varg
Vi har kärlek för varandra
För varandra, för alltid
Sov gott
Sov gott, jag vita varg
Morgonen vaknar
Då kysser vi,
Då kysser vi, för alltid
Då kysser vi, för alltid
Sov gott
Sov gott
Sov gott
ENGLISH TRANSLATION
Sleep Well
Sleep well, beautiful dolphin
Sleep well, white wolf
We have love for each other
For each other
Forever
Sleep well, beautiful dolphin
Sleep well, white wolf
We have love for each other
For each other
Forever
Sleep well,
Sleep well, white wolf
Morning wakes
Then we kiss
We kiss, we kiss
Sleep well
Sleep well, forever
Sleep well, beautiful dolphin
Sleep well, white wolf
We have love for each other
For each other, forever
Sleep well
Sleep well, white wolf
Morning wakes
Then we kiss
Then we kiss, forever
Then we kiss, forever
Sleep well
Sleep well
Sleep well
Hubby is sleeping in this morning. We like to enjoy our coffee together so I am enjoying orange juice as I watch the world wake outside my window. My thoughts are swirling with a lot of useless information so in an effort to clear my thoughts, I will share with you.
Blogging
Today marks my 336th day of consecutive blog posts. That means I only have 29 days left to meet my initial goal of blogging every day for a year. It is a practice I have come to enjoy a great deal. I have met some wonderful bloggers and am amazed at how elevated the interaction is when compared to social media. So where do I go from here? I have 29 days to figure it out.
Easter Eggs
The term Easter eggs has come to mean hidden items. The most well known are probably Google’s Easter eggs. For example, did you know you can play PacMan (and several other games) through Google’s search engine?
One of my recent favorites is what happens when you type in The Wizard of Oz. Click on Dorothy’s red slippers. And don’t forget to click the tornado later on.
Need to flip a coin or have momentary need for a metronome? Google’s got it covered. So next time you just want to waste some time, CognitiveSEO has a compilation of Google’s Easter eggs and I guarantee you can waste some really valuable time if you so desire.
Blimps
Yesterday I was thinking about places my mother worked. She worked for Raytheon and for Goodyear Aerospace. I am sure they were both tedious jobs as are most manufacturing jobs. Mom was proud of her contributions to both because of the components both companies manufactured.
During the time she worked for Raytheon, they were making advances in guided missile systems. Her time at Goodyear Aerospace in Akron, OH was during the time they were making equipment for NASA.
When you say Goodyear, however, most people think of their blimps. Blimps were manufactured at Goodyear Tire and Rubber, also in Akron. It was not at all unusual to see the blimps flying near our home in the suburbs outside of town. The Goodyear blimps were frequently seen at sports games providing some of the early full field views.
If you are interested in the history of the Goodyear blimps, there is a cool and well-done booklet that gives a great overview.
I would be hard-pressed to tell you which season is my favorite between spring and fall. They are both so phenomenal in their own way. But this morning, it feels like fall is in the air. It was only 62°F when I got up this morning. The direction of the sun is changing and the dogwood trees are definitely showing early signs of color changes that will soon burst everywhere around us.
It has been such a hot summer and I am looking forward to the cooler temperatures and a nice drop in humidity. We will take our annual drives along the Blue Ridge Parkway to see the glorious color that is autumn in the mountains.
My Short Story
Yesterday, I was not sure about this story I was working on. So, I sent it off to my trusted reader for her thoughts. I was at the point of discarding or moving forward. She was encouraging, so I will move forward. Someday you may see it here.
Hubby is up and has fed the birds and gathered some yellow pear tomatoes from the garden. It is time to sit back, read some blogs and enjoy my coffee. Our friend came over to help hubby replace the tracks in our VERY HEAVY sliding patio doors yesterday. He brought us a couple of savory scones from a local bakery so we will enjoy those with our morning coffee.
How Linda does all that she manages never ceases to amaze me. Yet, here we are again with another Saturday of stream of consciousness writing at her invitation. This week, we go back to English class and study parts of speech. This time specifically, prepositions. Linda’s prompt this week is:
Your Friday prompt for Stream of Consciousness Saturday is “preposition” Start your post with any preposition. Bonus points if you end with one too. Enjoy!
Over yonder. That phrase has been in my head since yesterday when we drove through the places where my ancestors first settled into the southeastern part of the country.
Over yonder means ‘over there’ I suppose. But yonder to a child usually meant a ‘fer piece’.
I wrote about the Paw Paw Patch song a while back. There is a line in the song that says “way down yonder”.
Yesterday, I realized the people living in the ancestral places of my great-great grandparents still grow tobacco over yonder. I have not seen field of tobacco growing in years.
You may not know that the government at one time subsidized tobacco growers. This was a means of controlling the amount of tobacco grown and the price per pound at the auction after harvest.
Our family never grew tobacco, but it was a cash crop and survival for a lot of small farmers. Growing tobacco is a lot of work. Seeds are set out under ‘hot beds’ covered in cheesecloth in the early spring. Later they would be transplanted, topped and suckered as the season progressed. The tobacco is eventually harvested by cutting the stalks (or leaves in some cases) and moving them to a barn to dry before farmers take them to a tobacco warehouse for the fall auction. Buyers would offer a price based on the quality of the plants.
There were seasons when farmers were paid not to grow in a given year. Or older farmers unable to work the fields were often leasing their allotments to other farmers for a percentage of the harvest.
The government stopped the subsidy in 2004. A lot of farmers withdrew from tobacco farming. It still seems to be thriving in some places. As much as our tobacco use has gone down in the US, there is great demand in developing countries. Which we know means a lot more people will die from this very addictive habit.
It seems consumers of tobacco are not hard to come by.
In need of a Saturday challenge to boost your weekend blogging? I suggest you check out Linda Hill’s blog to read all the rules and take in all the different ways of handling a single prompt.
There were seasons when farmers were paid not to grow in a given year. Or older farmers unable to work the fields were often leasing their allotments to other farmers for a percentage of the harvest.
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