Diane Stringam Tolley's Blog: On the Border, page 62

Less-Than-Artistic

Artistic: fourth from the right, top row.
Un-artistic: fourth from the right, second row.Grade three art class.

So much fun with so many things artistic.

None of them me.

I’m not sure, but I think when artistic ability was handed out in Heaven, I was outside.

Doing something else.

Or if I was there, my ability was poured in with a teaspoon and someone jiggled Heavenly Father’s elbow.

Moving on . . .

Others in my class were gifted with a bit more.

Quite a bit more.

One boy, in particular, was amazing.

And it was to Randy that I looked whenever a new assignment was handed out.

He never let me down.

We were in grade three, and had been given large pieces of paper and paints and instructed to paint a tree, I immediately turned to see what he did.

And how he did it.

He started with a graceful, fluid line of brown from the bottom of the page to the top.

I dipped my brush in my brown paint.

And made a streak.

That’s all. A streak. Heavy. Clumsy.

And distinctly un-graceful.

Sigh.

I tried to fix it.

It became an ungraceful streak that . . . thickened.

My teacher asked me, kindly, if I’d like to start again. I received my new piece of paper with relief bordering on giddiness.

And proceeded to do the same thing.

Oh, I did produce a tree.

But I had to label it so others would know.

Another time, we were given pictures to colour with our new pressed-wax crayons, and I fared better.

Again, I craned my neck to see what Randy would do.

His Santa picture was coloured heavily, completely filling in the spaces.

No white specks showing at all.

I tried to copy his technique.

But without his results.

Oh, I managed to stay within the lines. And it even turned out . . . acceptable.

But it just didn’t have the flare – the snap – that Randy’s did.

But I was nothing, if not persistent.

Every picture from then on was coloured with great intent. A lot of crayon.

And Randy’s technique.

But with equally disappointing results.

Then, a few months later, Randy changed things up.

For this newest colouring project, he outlined each space heavily, then proceeded to fill in lightly.

I could almost feel my mother’s relief as requests for new boxes of crayons . . . diminished. In fact, I think my current box and Randy’s new method actually lasted me through the end of the year.

Progress!

I kept on trying. And sometimes, was actually satisfied with my efforts.

But, by the end of grade three, I had realized something.

When it comes to things artistic:

Some do.

Others appreciate.

I’m definitely in the second category.And I’m happy there.

Paused

CousinsTwo little girls were playing.

Had been for most of the day.

Their electronics – Ipads, television programs, movies – were lying forgotten.

They had spread pillows across the living room floor and played ‘stay-out-of-the-lava’. Arranged the dozens of little ponies into regimental order and enacted several scenarios. Dressed in pirate togs and created suitable situations. With appropriate pirate-y talk. Built a fortress and other grand structures out of Lego and then destroyed them – several times. Ransacked the toybox for forgotten treasures and pressed them back into service. Climbed Mount Sofa. Read books. Sang. Had a dance party.

And trekked to the kitchen numerous times for ongoing nutritious sustenance. (Those little engines needed a lot of refuelling with such a busy schedule.)

It had been a full day.

And it wasn’t over yet.

Engaged in yet another grand and complex enactment, they charged through the living room.

Then, one of them stopped and announced – loudly – “I have to go potty!”

She turned toward the hallway. But before she left, she looked back at her cousin. “Pause the game, okay? I’ll be right back!”

Her cousin obligingly stopped where she was and simply stood there.

A few minutes later, needs met, play resumed.

Remember when I mentioned they had left their electronics behind while they played?

Well, some aspects simply cross over . . .

Bikini-d

 

My girl and I sat on the beach. We’d had a little tiff,

I tried to talk a time or two. Response was just a sniff,

Then finally, real desperate, I turned to her and said,

“We’ve got to talk a bit or this relationship is dead!”

She still said nothing, sat there staring at the pretty view,

I thought I’d introduce to her a topic that she knew,

“I find it funny, Babe,” I said. “Apparel at the beach.

“If someone wore their bra and knickers, sure you’d hear a screech!

“Yet in bikinis they appear, and onlookers applaud,

“So why is one acceptable, the other says you’re flawed?”

She sat there just a moment more, then gave a little cough,

“I don’t care what theysay, Hon, please go and take them off!”

And now for the ultimate in Bikini poetry!

Photo Credit: Karen of bakinginatornado.comCause Mondays do get knocked a lot,
With poetry, we all besought
To try to make the week begin
With gentle thoughts,
Perhaps a grin?
So  Karen , Charlotte, Mimi, me
Have crafted poems for you to see.
And now you’ve read what we have wrought…
Did we help?
Or did we not?

Next week, our skills, we will apply,To Cheer the Lonely, we will try!

Thinking of joining us for Poetry Monday?We'd love to welcome you!
Topics for the next few weeks...Bikinis (July 5) Today!Cheer the Lonely (July 12)Raspberry Cake Day (July 19)Parents Day (July 26)Ice Cream Sandwich Day (August 2)Cats (August 9)Tell a Joke (August 16)Wind (August 23)Monsters (August 30)Shoes (September 6) From MimiDefy Superstition Day (September 13) Also from MimiRemembering 8-Tracks (September 20) Another Mimi

Real Time Movies

 

The Kitchen WindowFor three years, we lived next to a haunted house.Okay, it really wasn't 'haunted'.But strange things went on there.Maybe I should explain . . .We lived on a street of tiny, beautiful starter homes. Less expensive and perfect for people living on a lower income.They were filled with senior couples and young families.We fit into the second category.The house beside us, whose front porch I could see from my kitchen window, was home to a little elderly couple.Sweet people.Quiet.Private.We saw them seldom.Then, one day, I noticed that two young girls were going in that front door.I should mention, here, that I spent a lot of time at my kitchen window. It was over my kitchen sink.Enough said.For many months, we saw those girls regularly.Then, suddenly, more people appeared. A young woman with tattoos, piercings, a neanderthal whose whose origins were questionable, and a baby named Levi.Then I realized that I hadn't seen our elderly couple in quite some time.In fact I never saw them again.For several months the two young girls and the couple with their baby came and went.Then two young boys, similar in age to the two young girls, appeared.And the two young girls stopped.Appearing, that is.Now, as near as we could figure, the young couple and their baby and the two young boys lived there.Then all activity ceased.No one came or went.One morning, I opened my front door to a very tall police officer. “Do you know the people who live next door?” he asked.“That house?” I asked, pointing.He nodded.“I'm ashamed to say that I don't,” I said. “There was a nice elderly couple there. Then two young girls. Then a young couple and a baby. Then two young boys. But that's about all I can tell you.”“Come with me,” he said. He led the way to the house.I stopped in the front doorway.Aghast.I've always wanted to use that word . . .The cute little house had been destroyed.Cupboards had been ripped down off the walls and shredded into matchsticks. Every single wall and door had been punched out. The bannister ripped off the stairway and broken. Toilet ripped off the floor and thrown out the window.The damage was unbelievable.Incredible.The officer was looking at me. “You didn’t hear any of this?”I shook my head. I really hadn’t. For just a moment, I wondered why. Then I remembered the semi-constant din in my home made by five kids and seven day-home kids.Yeah, Not so surprising after all.Moving on...Obviously someone had been very angry.Or very, very disturbed.For six months the little house remained empty.Then, one day, crews appeared and effected repairs.And, finally, a sweet young couple and their baby moved in.Ahhh. Normal at last.Then the fights began.Usually in the wee hours of the morning.One morning, after breakfast, I was again at my post, hands in the sink, when a police car, followed by a van pulled up next door.Two policeman, one carrying a large camera got out.Oh, no. Someone's killed someone, I thought.The two went into the house.Sometime later, more police cars arrived.It took me a while to notice because I had the phone and was sitting on the floor calling my husband.“I don't want to live here any more,” I said, tearfully. “Please move me somewhere else!”I ended my phone call and stood up.Just as the front door opened.A policeman came out.Carrying two large, beautiful, healthy marijuana plants.Oh.He was followed by another, carrying two more.Then another.And another.In all, I counted 16 plants.Okay, not what I expected.The officers stowed the plants in the van and left.I must admit that I was quite surprised when things next door became more or less normal for a while after that.Then the fights began again.One particular night, we heard the loud slam of a door.Then pounding.Then, “Open this door!”The husband had pushed his wife outside and locked the door.Soon we heard the starting of a vehicle and the squealing of tires.Exit wife.For a few weeks, the young husband and the baby continued to live there.Then we moved.I couldn't take it any longer.Who needs TV when one has a kitchen window?

That Holiday Weekend

We had a glorious July 1 celebration! For the first time in Covid history, our family was together.Albeit largely outside, but we were together!And it reminded me of July 1st's of the past...


We had decided to take our children for a holiday over the long July first weekend.It had seemed like a good idea at the time.But we had made a couple of mistakes.We hadn't planned. Anything.Did you know that you need reservations to camp in Alberta over THE long weekend?Well, you do.Sigh.It was getting late on June 30.We had been through dozens of campgrounds.All completely filled with people who were better planners than we were.Or at least had started out on their holiday a bit earlier in the day.We saw a sign for yet another campground.Almost hidden in the undergrowth.Hmmm.Maybe others would have missed it.We drove in.Right away, we saw an empty campsite.Things were looking up.The site wasn't very big.Just down the street was a second.Also tiny.Forgetting the hours we had spent searching, we decided to do a loop and see if there were any better.We completed the circuit.Nothing.A second loop opened off the first.We decided to give it the once-over.Grant turned.We had gone only a few dozen feet before we realized that this was not part of the campground.The road we were on trailed off into the trees, instantly becoming a small path.We needed to turn around.Grant nosed the car into the tall grass on an approach to a farmer's field.There was a thump.And the steering on the car . . . quit.We couldn't turn.Grant got out and inspected.A large log had been pulled across the approach.Presumably to stop exactly what we were trying to do.The car had rolled over it.And completely destroyed the power steering.Grant stared at it, shaking his head.Finally, he moved the log, opened the gate, and drove our car straight out into the field. It was the only thing we could do.We stopped.And looked at each other. It was seven pm on Friday, June 30.The beginning the THE long weekend.A disabled car.Six hungry kids.And no options.We got out.“Maybe we should say a prayer,” one of the kids said.Good idea.We gathered close and prayed.For help.For guidance.For some miracle that would instantly replace our ailing car with a new and pristine model.Then Grant grabbed a basin and started out for the campground.A few minutes later, he was back.Basin brimming with cold, clear water.But what was even more wonderful was the police car following directly behind him.The kids and I surrounded Grant, peppering him with questions and turning to stare at the car.Two officers emerged.As they came closer, I realized that there was only one officer.The other man was dressed in 'civvies'.Grant handed me the water and turned to the men.“This is the car,” he said.The second man walked over, lifted the hood and bent over the engine.Grant joined him.It turned out that this second man was good friends with the officer. He was a mechanic and the owner of the nearby auto wreckers. He had decided to come along with his friend as the officer ran his evening rounds.The two of them, Grant and the mechanic, began to converse in 'car'.Finally, they straightened.“I'll send someone over in the morning to pick it up,” the man said. “We can fix you up. No problem.”I could have kissed him.But there was the fact that we were total strangers.So I shook his hand instead.True to his word, a tow truck arrived the next morning at 8:00 AM. Took the car and disappeared.At 3:00, the car was back.Driving under it's own abilities once more.Our prayers were truly answered.We had been granted a miracle.My daughter looked at me. “The car's fixed?” she asked.“It is, Sweetie,” I said.“It's a miracle.”“It is.”She looked at me again. “I wonder what that policeman thought when the mechanic appeared beside him after our prayer.”
I smiled. I wonder, too.

Home Wreck

 

I really wanted to take Shop class.Working with power tools. Smelling the aroma of freshly-sawn wood as you constructed your first-ever end table.Making pottery and jewelry.A handi-girl's dream.But in 1970 (yes that's really when I started high school) at Erle Rivers High in Milk River, Alberta girls weren't allowed to take Shop class.I know. Because I asked.Moving on . . .I, and the rest of the girls, took Home Economics. Home Ec., for short.Or Home Wreck, as it was not-so-affectionately titled.So we were 'Home-Wreckers'.The place where we 'learned' to sew.Cook.Clean.And generally find our way around running a home.Once I got past not being able to take Shop, I really had fun.I sewed a potholder. An apron.And a little purple linen dress with the sleeves in backwards.Sigh.I baked cookies. Made Chicken-a-la-King served in little toast cups.And Gourmet Hot Dogs.I learned the proper way to scour pots (and the sink).Scrub a floor.And generally make my house squeaky clean.Sew straight. Cook carefully. And scrub hard.I did pass. With unremarkable marks.And, surprisingly, I actually used some of the things I learned.And still do today.There is a codicil:Now my brother . . .Yes, they allowed boys to take Home Ec. For one glorious week sometime during the year.And yes, I know it wasn't fair . . .My brother remembers Home Wreck differently. (See here!)He remembers cooking.Something he excels at today.And hunting for mice with frying pans and spatulas.Boys make everything more fun.

Dine-in Car

I probably don’t have to tell you that Canada is a large country.

In bygone years, the men who manned the trains crisscrossing it spent a long time aboard those trains.

A long time.

In those days, they spent much of the trip and all of their downtime in the little caboose as it clicked faithfully along the rails at the tail end of the train. It became their little ‘home away from home’. There, they did their visiting, sleeping, reading, game-playing, cooking and eating. 

Let’s discuss these last two for a moment . . .

One group, in an effort to be fair, took it in turns to cook and wash up.

They had one rule: If anyone criticized the cooking in any way, their turn was accelerated instantly through the queue and they found themselves with spatula (or spoon) in hand for the next meal.

Yeah. Probably best to keep your mouth shut unless you had a hankering to take over as cook.

So the men silently choked down whatever they were given. No matter how unpalatable. 

They still had to take their turn when it came, but at least they weren’t handed the apron at a moment’s notice.

One man in the group seemed singularly unable to create anything remotely appetizing. Or even edible.

Yeah. We’re definitely not talking gastronomic ecstasy here.

His friends were enduring his most recent effort, silently forking down breakfast.

Or what passed for breakfast.

One man poked disconsolately (real word!) at the blackened bit of char that had started life as an egg.

The cook narrowed his eyes, his hand tightening spasmodically on the spatula.

This is my story. I’ll imagine it how I want . . .

The man looked up and forced a smile at the cook. “Hank,” he said. “You burned the eggs.”

Hank smiled slowly and moved toward him, already extending his cooking utensil of choice.

“Which is truly remarkable,” his friend added, “Because it’s just how I like ‘em!”

Creative criticism.

It’s an art.

P.S. The trains that span our great country no longer pull a caboose behind them. With faster trains and shorter hauls between stops—and with improvements in technology—they simply aren’t needed.I miss them.

Bubbled Over

I have a thing for bubbles, I could watch them constantly,

I love to see them, big or small, drift off away from me,

Sparkly iridescent—catching sunlight as they float,

They’re so carefree, and friendly-like, not angry, not remote,

And yet, their lives are short, they neither toil, nor do they spin,

But still make an impression—even adults sport a grin!

Sometimes, I’d like to be one, floating up so happily,

A shining, gleaming bubble all would recognize as me,

I’d fly across the neighbourhood, I’d never want to stop,

There’s just one thing, I hope that I would never have to ‘POP’! 

Photo Credit: Karen of bakinginatornado.comCause Mondays do get knocked a lot,
With poetry, we all besought
To try to make the week begin
With gentle thoughts,
Perhaps a grin?
So  Karen , Charlotte, Mimi, me
Have crafted poems for you to see.
And now you’ve read what we have wrought…
Did we help?
Or did we not?

Next Week's topic, what a blast!Bikinis—YES—to clothe your . . . behind.

Thinking of joining us for Poetry Monday?We'd love to welcome you!
Topics for the next few weeks...Bubbles (June 28) Today!Bikinis (July 5)Cheer the Lonely (July 12)Raspberry Cake Day (July 19)Parents Day (July 26)Ice Cream Sandwich Day (August 2)Cats (August 9)Tell a Joke (August 16)Wind (August 23)Monsters (August 30)Shoes (September 6) From MimiDefy Superstition Day (September 13) Also from MimiRemembering 8-Tracks (September 20) Another Mimi

Overcoming

 

The hill...

The tiny girl stood looking up the hill that barred her way

From joining her two brothers as they played atop that day,

That hill was huge in her young eyes, and much too big to climb,

But if she didn’t join them, well, to her t’would be a crime!

 

So she began: foot followed foot. She slowly progress made,

And finally, she reached the top—her conquered land surveyed,

She reveled in the goal she’d seized with bravery and hustle,

And realized, in climbing there, she’d also gained some muscle!

 

That little girl is older now, but still the lesson lingers,

As ‘life’ has given obstacles (and just a few big zingers!),

And all those hills she’s had to climb, well, they were not a waste,

She’s gained ‘life’s muscles’ conquering the obstacles she faced!

Today's post was a challenge from the inimitable and totally awesome Karen at Baking in a Tornado. 

Visit her and see what she has done with the theme!

First Romance

Grade Twelve English 30.My favourite class of all time.What could possibly be better than reading books and stories and then talking about them?Or of writing your own?Nothing. Absolutely nothing.Our teacher was a veteran of many, many years. She had taught each of my three elder siblings and survived.And now it was my turn.Most of the time, I was fairly quiet in her class - choosing mostly to listen as the conversations went on around me. Keeping my opinions to myself, except when they could be submitted in a written format.My grades were good.We were working our way through a thick volume of short stories. Some exciting. Some bizarre. Some sweet and romantic.It was during this last that I came to grief.Let me explain . . .We were reading a story about a man who saw a beautiful hand-made doll in the window of a local shop. The doll affected him greatly. It seemed to 'speak' to him.He purchased it and tried to find out more about it and the person who had made it.He discovered that the doll and others like it were made locally and that a woman usually brought them in to the shop a few at a time.He tracked down the woman.She was not the artist.Instead, she kept the real doll-maker a virtual prisoner, and forced her to keep making dolls, which were then sold.The imprisoned doll-maker was justifiably sad and put all of the love she would have given her unborn children into her dolls. Which was why they were so beautiful.The man fell in love with the captive doll-maker, stole her away and married her.And they lived happily ever after.Okay, I admit it, when I read this story, I discovered that I'm a romantic.I loved it.Loved the 'happily ever after' ending.I was excited for the discussion to start . . .“How many of you liked this story?” the teacher asked.My hand shot up.Then slowly lowered as I realized that I was the only person in the class who had raised one.“This story was drivel!” the teacher said. “Absolute tripe!” She stomped around the front of the class. “Stupid romantic nonsense! Waste of good print! Waste of time!”She added several more derisive comments, then stopped and stared at me.My hand was back on my desk.“Well, I thought it was romantic!” One of the other girls tried to come to my aid.The teacher snorted. “Hmph! Don't know why it was included in this book! Maybe as an example of lousy writing!”The class was silent.“Asinine garbage! Should be torn out of the book!” She glared around. “Any other thoughts?”Let me put it this way . . . the discussion following this story didn't take up much time.The story was given a brief technical reckoning, then dismissed.And the class moved on to the next story.I moved with them, reading and responding to my assignments.Suspense.Mystery.Humour.But I never forgot my first romantic story.I read and re-read it.Loving it more each time.Mmmm.Romance.I still think I was right.