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Barb
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Get In Touch
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Recipe Stories
Sweet Biscuits and Chocolate Gravy
Chilly Soup
Spiced Vinegar
Apple Butter
An Interview with Travln
What book was the first one you fell in love with?
There are two. The very first book I fell in love with is a book of poetry written by James Whitcomb Riley first copyrighted in 1887. The book I have was printed in 1934. James Whitcomb Riley's home is/was in Plainfield Indiana not far from where I grew up. He wrote not only in rhyme but in the dialect of the hired help that worked for his family. I suppose his most famous poems were:
Little Orphant Annie
Little Orphant Annie's come to our house to stay
An' wash the cups an' saucers up, an' bresh the crumbs away,
An shoo the chicken off the porsh, an' dust the hearth and sweep,
An' make the fire, an' bake the bread, an' earn her board-an-keep
We set around the kitchen fire as'has the mostest fun
A-lis'nin to the witch-tales 'at Annie tells about.
An' the Gobble-uns 'at gits you
Ef you
Don't
Watch
Out!
The Raggedy Man
O the raggedy Man! He works for Pa:
An he's the goodest man ever you saw!
He comes to our house every day
An' waters the horses, an feeds 'em hay:
An' he opens the shed - an' we all ist laugh
When he drives out our little old wobble-ly calf:
Am' nen - ef our hires girl says he can --
He milks the cow fer 'Lizabuth Ann--
Ain't he a' awful good Raggedy Man?
Ragged! Raggedy! Raggedy man!
You can see from this why he was such a fun person to read. Reading his poetry taught me how to play and have fun with words. Turn a sentence into something silly and laugh about it. It showed me that not all of life was about periods and commas and being always proper!
The other book was a paper back story about a little boy that was an orphan and how the townspeople treated him badly and looked down on him because he was different and without a Ma and Pa. It was called The Littest Shepherd and I can't remember the author. But I knew after reading it that every one is different and we all have good things about us. Everyone needs a chance to just be themselves.
When did you start writing?
I can't remember not writing! I started out writing about kids and the funny things they get into. Like the lopsided birthday cakes, breakfast in bed for mom, fixing the bike, painting the barn, but I never kept any of them and I never shared any of them with anyone. After we were married in 1960 I started keeping a journal of all the things we did and places we went. After our four kids were born I wrote down the funny things they said and did. I tagged it "Nothing Exciting Ever Happens Here" and it has turned out to be our history because as it grew I added differnet things in it like some of the stories about when our parents grew up, genealogy, and favorite recipes, etc. In there somewhere I started writing poetry, too.
How long have you been with the Skateboard writer's group?
I found the WWOL chat room in Sept of 1996 and Lane and Karen Miller talked me into posting in the coffeehouse and joining the writers circle group. Apple Butter was born in Feb of 1997 and I have been playing with recipe and stories to go with them since.
What do you aspire to?
I don't know! *grin*
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