Revelations and Creativity

It's always satisfying to have your work recognized and I am very grateful to Gerry, Daughters of the Shadow Men, for selecting me as one of her recipients of the Kreative Blogger Award. I recommend that you check out Gerry's blog and experience her creative spirit.

As a recipient of the Kreative Blogger Award, I'm supposed to reveal seven things about me that you don't know. Having been a blogger for three years, I'm not certain if I have any unrevealed bits of me, but I'll try.

1. Several years ago, when I was still teaching high school English, I literally ran into Maya Angelou. I had joined my friend HR in going to a performance by Ms. Angelou of her poetry. As we were leaving, HR and I were separated in the exiting crowd and I took a shortcut to the car that necessitated walking past the stage exit door. Hurrying along, I nearly bumped into a tall, imposing woman who was coming out of that exit. Looking up, I came face to face with Maya Angelou. I muttered, "Excuse me." She replied, "That's all right, dear." Feeling that I needed to say more, I added, "I'm a teacher." Without missing a beat, she patted me on the cheek and said, "That's nice, dear."

2. When I was a junior in high school, I discovered that I was a poet. My high school had invited Calvin Atwood to be our poet in residence for a two week program in which a small class of students wrote poetry. I liked to write short stories, but I had never written a poem. This is my very first poem:

sometimes I'm good,
sometimes I'm very good,
and sometimes I'm very, very good
but most of the time

i'm just mediocre

I didn't think that the poem was particularly good, but Atwood liked it. I've been writing poetry ever since.

3. I met James Dickey, the author of Deliverance when I was a junior in high school. Calvin Atwood, the poet-in-residence, was friends with James Dickey, who was speaking at the local college, Atlantic Christian College (now known as Barton College). Atwood and Mr. M, the English Coordinator for Wilson County, invited me to accompany them to hear Dickey speak. After Dickey's presentation, they invited me to come back to Mr. M.'s apartment. I was starry eyed, and particularly enchanted by the jacket which Dickey wore. It had been worn by Burt Reynolds in the film, Deliverance.

4. I can play the guitar. When I was 14, guitar masses became popular in progressive Catholic churches. Sister Mary gave me my first guitar, a six string steel guitar. I taught myself to play it. It was the height of the civil rights movement and the peace not war ideology of the 1960s. For mass we played guitar and sang Kumbaya, Blowin' in the Wind, and We Shall Overcome. My favorite song had the lyrics, "Hear O Lord, the sound of my call; Hear O Lord, and have mercy; My soul is longing for the glory of you; O hear O Lord and answer me." I no longer own a guitar but I've decided to buy one, soon.

5. I can tie a knot in a cherry stem using only my teeth and tongue. I discovered my talent when I was in college.

6. My best category in Trivial Pursuit is entertainment. I once won a game because I knew who played the munitions expert in The Guns of Navarone. (David Niven)

7. My favorite flavor of ice cream is vanilla. I'm particularly fond of Ben and Jerry's French Vanilla. I don't like plain chocolate ice cream. I like chocolate fudge ice cream mixed with other flavors, but not straight run of the mill chocolate ice cream.

I think that I'm supposed to pass this award along to a few other bloggers. However, I think that I will pass on doing so. I like so many blogs; each offers something unique and I just can't settle on who deserves an award. So consider yourself awarded for your creativity and copy the Kreative Blogger icon to add to your blog. Then tell us a few new things about yourself. In the end, we are all deserving of appreciation for our creative efforts.