I was active in all things theatrical in high school and that included the speech and debate team. I was too amiable to be much of a debater so our speech team teacher, Barry W., suggested I try poetry. Wow!! Contests based on how you read and interpret poetry? Unreal! So I thought I would start with one that was familiar to me: Little Boy Blue by Eugene Field. Sometimes momma would recite poetry to us at bedtime instead of books. After reading it through a few times, Barry suggested I look up some interpretations as I wasn't quite "feeling" it. I did.
To say that I was shocked would be an understatement. All those years my mother recited poetry about a dead child! I could not believe it! I asked her about it and she simply replied with a question: "How did you feel when you heard the poem?" "Did it make you sad?" "No". "Were you upset that the boy just left his toys?" "No". "Why?" "Because I thought he grew up, that's all." "Then that all that matters. How you felt at the time. Now you will see it through someone else's eyes. It is up to you to decide how you want them to feel in the end."
That was momma. She would hand you something and wait to see what YOU made of it. Sometimes I thought that was mean, but now I think it was awesome.
Creating a hat for a contest - yep still winging it at 50+
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