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Let it snow

Posted on January 8, 2009 by hdh

I enjoy snow. I feel for all those people that live in the southern climes that don’t get the opportunity to see and play with snow. But then I assume that all those people feel for me not having the opportunity to enjoy warm weather all of the time and what that brings. When I was young we had our own built in snow slope right outside my apartment building. If you got a good dumping of snow there was a walkway between the hill next to our house and the little park that was there also that was perfect for sledding. Here’s a picture of my dad and me sledding down at the end of that runway. If you were really good and got up enough speed, you could make it all the way out to the street and hope no cars were coming. In this picture, we did make it to the street.

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Catch that mouse!

Posted on December 18, 2008 by hdh

Throughout my life there have been many instances where I have had to deal with mice. From early childhood, where we would have a number of mice in our apartment to my present day house and our quest for the elusive 7th mouse. I’ve always been fascinated by them. As a child it was in my parents domain to deal with them. Back in the 50’s if there were such things as Havahart traps, we knew nothing of them. Besides even if we did catch live mice, where would we send them, to another floor in our building? The simplest solution to deal with mice was the snap trap. Put a piece of salami in the trap, set it, wait for the snap and then remove the entire contraption to the incinerator down the hall. My father did all of the dastardly deeds. My only job was to locate the entrance or exit where these rodents had access to our apartment. Personally I didn’t mind the mice, when I knew they were there, it was the sudden appearance of them that usually shook me up.
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Posted in Personal Stories, Writing | 1 Comment

What would you wish?

Posted on November 28, 2008 by hdh

As I was walking with my nephews today, we got onto a conversation about wishes, which reminded me of a piece of writing I did years ago on our summer vacation to Canada.

Dream Wishes
8/16/04
Last night I had a very thought provoking dream. It involved being alloted wishes. Imagine that you have been given all the wishes that you wanted with the following conditions: You only have 24 hours with which to use them and at the end of the 24 hours there is no guarantee that what you wished for that was not a material object would remain.
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Great Aunt Lil’s decree

Posted on November 12, 2008 by hdh

I began teaching in the early 1970’s. My biggest problem was credibility and my youthful appearance. I was a newbie. At one of my first Open Houses, I overheard a parent of one of my students comment that she couldn’t figure out who was the teacher. I was standing right in front of her. She thought I looked too much like a student. The parent was hesitant to have her daughter in my class; she wanted a teacher with more experience.

I resolved at that point to do something. Experience I would get by teaching more but my appearance I could change. I chose to grow a beard. Continue reading →

Posted in Original Stories, Storytelling/Song Ideas, Writing | 2 Comments

Great Aunt Lil

Posted on November 10, 2008 by hdh

I’m not sure where I’m going with this yet. It came to mind as I was trying to sleep last night:

Of all the members of the family, she is the most looked up to. Her 90 plus years not withstanding, she commands deference with just the tone and confidence in her voice. Great Aunt Lil was a distinctive woman from an early age. Her quest for knowledge out shined all the rest of her family, which would explain why she is the one we all go to when we need advice. There was not a problem, issue or need that we had that she did not have some quote to guide us on our way.
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Personal Safety

Posted on November 7, 2008 by hdh

I’ve been an advocate for teaching Personal Safety in schools for most of my teaching career. In the district that I worked in, I had little success. Other than when an unknown car stops children on the road, does it get discussed in class. At that point a memo goes out to staff and parents from the district describing the incident and reminding parents that it will be/was discussed in school as part of their regular Personal Safety discussions. Other than brief discussions in class at that moment, nothing else is done. I’ve been out of the classroom for 2 years now, but do not think that much has changed.

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Posted in Education, Storytelling in School, Storytelling/Song Ideas | Leave a comment

More characters

Posted on October 15, 2008 by hdh

I’ve written about people that I have lasting memories of. My last entry talked about noise that I made as a kid and the effects it had on certain people that lived in my apartment complex. I’ve also written about my 5th grade teacher, Miss Hurrell and how she helped me understand the meaning of trust and faith in the class that she was teaching. I thought this time, that I would focus on some of the more interesting personalities of other teachers I have had.
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Posted in Personal Stories, Storytelling general, Writing | 2 Comments

Who’s making all that noise?

Posted on October 1, 2008 by hdh

I’m reading a wonderfully insightful book, called Story Proof: the science behind the startling power of story by Kendall Haven. I recommend it to anyone that deals with children. One of the things Haven mentions in his book is how narrative writing is all about character. At times when I share stories with my son I ask him which character from the past would he like to learn about, someone from my past or someone from his? Lately it’s made me think more and more about a number of characters that I recall from my life. Today’s theme is “Noise” and here are some of those unforgettable characters:
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The Three Hats of a Storyteller

Posted on September 16, 2008 by hdh

I participated in a workshop over a year ago, from Master Storyteller, Elizabeth Ellis. She explained that as storytellers we wear three different kinds of hats. As a storyteller I am an artist, craftsperson, and businessperson. Here are the notes that I wrote at her workshop:

Artist: Researches, writes, new work, how does this part go with that. Does deep thought. What does my work need to meet the needs of the audience; wants to make a connection; what it means to their life.

Craftsperson: Teller: detail oriented; Chooses the stories to tell. Concerned about audience’s reaction and logistics of storytelling situation

Businessperson: Decision maker, marketing – process what is acceptable and accessible to this audience. How are we going to get invited back; Oversees tasks to be done, requires others to do them. Responsible for public relations.
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Posted in Storytelling general, Storytelling in School, Storytelling Marketing, Storytelling Tips | Leave a comment