I'm going to go visit my mother in California next week, and apropos of nothing, I found myself looking through her old Girl Scout Handbook, Intermediate Program, circa 1953. Imagine the snap of the fall air, and tell me this doesn't make your heart pitter-pat:
Because a bandanna has many uses it is called the adventurer's friend. It can become a kerchief, potholder, bandage, signal flag, trail marker, or a bag in which to carry food or treasures.
I was raised to love just that sort of upbeat and practical non-fiction, the sure-footed, smiling guides that hinted at the wonders which would be loosed like slip knots beneath our capable fingers. I tell you, the tone itself makes me want to pick a troop's worth of pomegranates, safety check the badminton equipment, chisel my own tambourine, dig a trench, and sew raincoats for underprivileged jaybirds. However, what I did instead yesterday was write. Here are 2 from something I've whittled down so lean, I'm not sure what's left is a story anymore:
The larger part of her, the part that needed to breathe and eat, seemed weak and slow in comparison to the formless knowledge pricking the back of her skull. Since she was seven years old, she'd felt the mismatch, like a stupid rag doll with one shiny pin stuck in it.
Post 2 sentences you recently read/wrote in the comments, or let us know where to link to them.
The image above is of dolls that the Greater Seattle Chapter of the American Sewing Guild has made for Honduran children. Truly Scout-like can-do and virtue!
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5 comments:
When I was a kid I used to pour over my Camp Fire Girl handbook. All activities - some adventurous, some common sense - and the promise of beads to reward my successful completion! Your lines are compelling. Like poetry, actually, in that the meaning is distilled into so few words. Wow. Lots of feeling there.
I had a Brownie handbook that I loved, Lois. Just Loved and dogeared to pieces.
If I got the thing pared down to poetic, I'd be ecstatic.
Oooo, I loved your two sentences. I can see and feel that.
Thanks, Craven. Maybe next time I'll have more company. Usually there's not quite such an echo : )
Thanks for the additional uses of a bandanna ~ I'm sure it will come in handy!
I like your rag doll simile (and the photo you chose to accompany your post).
Here's two I read, from Natalie Goldberg's OLD FRIEND FROM FAR AWAY:
“We write memoir not to remember, not to cling, but to honor and let go. Wave after wave splashes on the shore and is gone.”
Here's two from my true crime memoir:
While investigating this half-century old case, I feel like a “Beat the Clock” contestant. The people involved in the case are aging and dying; I must track them down before they pass away.
Have a great trip to California, Clare ~ enjoy the time with your mom.
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