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15 September ~ 2007
It was a good night last night at the Rose. Woody Procell and Snowy River Band had their fiddler with them, and I was able to dance up a storm. They brought back a large barrel fan at the back, which is needed by many of us, to dry off the sweat from dancing so much.
I taught three young ladies how to triple step. Two caught on right away, and the third couldn't quite get the rocking part of the triple step, and that was sort of awkward, but I was patient.
One of the ladies I showed how to dance had sat at a table all evening with her friends. I noticed how beautiful she was and when a mid speed triple step was playing I went over and asked her. At first she hesitated, but I said I could show her how. She picked up the beat almost from the beginning, and had an easy grace that complemented her good looks. A lot of people line the dance floor, sitting in tables, or leaning against the rail on the north and west sides. They all watched this young lady and I became pretty much invisible. Her long brown hair and sweet face and nice disposition arent something you forget very easily. She thanked me warmly at the end of the song, and when I walked her back to her table her girlfriends told her how well she did out there.
I left a midnight tired but in high spirits. (even though I don't drink). Life will always have its ups and downs. The trick is to nuture the place in your heart where the desire to dance comes from. Dancing is truly a short cut to happiness.
This morning me and Ben and Maggie went down to the Greenbelt first thing, before I got busy doing the yard work I had planned. We lingered in the Grove of Eleven Cottonwoods, and walked through the meadow and over to the frog pond. It is such a precious landscape for me, as much of home as my house up over the hill. I can't describe the good feelings I get down there. I am sure it is the same for Ben and Maggie.
Ben wasn't able to go down there for 10 days, while the bone in his foot began to heal. Me and Maggie went alone, while Ben cried at the backdoor. He was happy and contented when us three finally took the trail down the ridge together again, starting four days ago.
I got a remote control for my camera, and used it to take some very nice photos of me and the dogs this morning. I especially like these of me and Ben:
I had been practicing the story of how Pecos Bill got raised by Coyotes for a week, sometimes twice a day, and was certainly ready to go. Practicing allows the story to 'settle in' for me, and it enables me to tell it in a conversational manner, rather than in a 'story voice.'
Practicing also enables me to figure out the nuances of the best way to tell the story, in order to keep the kid's interest. I had Pecos Bill fall out of the wagon with the harmonica his Dad gave him on his fourth birthday. When he grew up he remembered the tunes his Dad played on the harmonica, and figured out how to play them himself. The Coyotes gathered around in a circle while he played. The other animals - the Mountain Lions, Deer, Rabbits and Bears came closer to hear Bill play the harmonica also. The Wowser would sometimes hear the harmonica and run in roaring, causing all the coyotes and other animals to scatter and run for their lives. I then asked the children if I had told them what the Wowser was? No, well the Wowser was the meanest, most terrible, nastiest creature in the whole world, etc.,
I continued the story of the Wowser and how the Coyotes found a way to trick it and get rid of him, and paused a little, as if the story was over. I then added a major component to my story, how Grandy, the old Coyote who found Pecos Bill, got old and one day went off and never returned.
I explained to the kids that animals have a sense that everthing that grows up has to someday return to the earth, and Grandy kew it was his time.
Pecos Bill and his Coyote brothers and sisters were very sad. I went slow at this point, and the children were very quiet. On one of the tellings I noticed tears well up in a little girl's eyes at this part of the story.
This is the best volunteer job in the world, to find a story that touches my heart and imagination and tell it in such a way that the children get the same feeling as I did the first time.
There is nothing cuter and more inspiring than 15 or 20 3rd graders around your chair, listening with their minds and hearts to every word of your story.
I will tell these same kids eight more stories this school year, once a month, until May 2008. I will get started on the October story this week.
I had a recorder in my pocket, so I could see how I did, and save this story in case I want to use it in future years. I placed it on my website, here.
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