Who is Watching Us

I don't usually post jokes, but this one relates so much to human nature, I had to share it.

The children were lined up in the cafeteria of a Catholic elementary school for lunch. At the head of the table was a large pile of apples. The nun made a note, and posted on the apple tray: 

'Take only ONE. God is watching.'

Moving further along the lunch line, at the other end of the table was a large pile of chocolate chip cookies. 

A child had written a note, 'Take all you want. God is watching the apples....' 

Poetry and Poets

To have great poets, there must be great audiences. 

                                                   ... Walt Whitman, American Poet

What comes first, the great poets or the great audiences? We need audiences who are hungry for good poetry?.

It is said that no one buys poetry books except other poets. If poets turn out to hear a poet read from her original poetry book, and the poets like that poet, they usually are good audiences and often purchase books.

People who don't like poetry and have not read a poem since high school or college English classes, can become poetry fans if they hear a poet whose writing they relate to. I dragged my husband, Barry, out to hear Billy Collins when he appeared in our area. He was surprised to find that he really enjoyed Collins' poetry, but he admitted that he also liked the delivery of the poet and his humor.

Barry also liked my poetry and attended most of my readings. Most of us like accessible poetry - verses that we understand without having to read and dissect each line to try to figure what the poet is trying to say to us in very concise and poetic language. Billy Collins wrote a funny poem about a poetry critique and the way-out images and language a poet used in hopes of making his verses sound super-intelligent but, in actuality, made the poet sound like a pompous ass.

Learned poets enjoy the abstract poems with deep hidden meanings that take analyzing and repeated readings. To me, those poems don't make good readings because we are simply listening and can't read it again or pick each line apart and ponder over each word.

I like an enthusiastic audience where people feel welcome to applaud and show their enjoyment. I think a reading is not about convincing the audience that you are a great poet, but is about relating with the audience, making them like you, the poet, and sharing poetry that makes them smile or laugh or maybe get a lump in their throat. Remember, it is not what you say or what you do, but how you make them feel. That is what the audience will remember about you and your poetry.

I am sharing two poems by well-known poets that I like. I can hear Langston Hughes' mother's voice in the first poem. Hear Viola Davis read this poem on You Tube.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5L-kKxePGqA

Mother to Son
Langston Hughes (1922)

Well, son, I’ll tell you:
Life for me ain’t been no crystal stair.
It’s had tacks in it,
And splinters,
And boards torn up,
And places with no carpet on the floor—
Bare.
But all the time
I’se been a-climbin’ on,
And reachin’ landin’s,
And turnin’ corners,
And sometimes goin’ in the dark
Where there ain’t been no light.
So boy, don’t you turn back.
Don’t you set down on the steps
’Cause you finds it’s kinder hard.
Don’t you fall now—
For I’se still goin’, honey,
I’se still climbin’,
And life for me ain’t been no crystal stair.  

Langston Hughes

Robert Frost was my first favorite poet. I saw him in person when he visited my college, Georgia State College for Women. I have CDs of him reading his work. I love his voice, the rhythm of each poem and the feelings he provokes with his concise language. His audiences were great, I'm sure.

Acquainted with the Night
Robert Frost

I have been one acquainted with the night.
I have walked out in rain - and back in rain.
I have out walked the furthest city light.
I have looked down the saddest city lane.
I have passed by the watchman on his beat
and dropped my eyes, unwilling to explain.

I have stood still and stopped the sound of feet
when far away an interrupted cry
came over houses from another street,

but not to call me back or say good-bye;
and further still at an unearthly height,
one luminary clock against the sky

proclaimed the time was neither wrong nor right.
I have been one acquainted with the night.

What's Wrong with Roundup? Ask the Bees.

I found this article from NPR very interesting today. 
Study of roundup weed killer could be linked to deaths of bees.

We have been told for several years that our bee population was declining. Many possible answers were given, but now this one makes sense.

My experience with Round Up happened more than thirty years ago when we were partners in a Christmas Tree farm with my sister and brother-in-law. We planted the trees in February when they were only about a foot tall. In south Georgia, where we lived, the weeds quickly covered them in the spring.

We, like all the farmers, looked for the easiest and least costly manner of ridding our fields of weeds. We could have hired several people to come in with hoes, and they could have chopped out the offending growth as workers used to do in the cotton fields, but labor in today's world is extremely high. We found we could buy a large container of Roundup and spray it on the ground around the trees. It killed the the unwanted greenery without harming the woody stalks of the pines.

We did not understand there was any danger from using this chemical. After all, it wouldn't be on the market if it were dangerous, right? We never considered the runoff into the ponds and into streams. No one told us it was not safe to use. We certainly did not know all the things now known about this weed killer.

I have learned that Roundup contains a chemical, glyphosate, the active ingredient in the herbicide which is believed to cause cancer and has been banned in many countries but not in the USA.

Researchers Nancy Moran, Erick Motta and Kasie Raymann of the University of Texas at Austin suggest their findings are evidence that glyphosate might be contributing to colony collapse disorder, a phenomenon that has been wreaking havoc on honey bees and native bees for more than a decade.

The chemical giant Monsanto created this product, but Bayer has bought out Monsanto, and they say there have been no studies that show glyphosate is harmful to bees which is what the study by the university is proving.

"We need better guidelines for glyphosate use, especially regarding bee exposure, because right now the guidelines assume bees are not harmed by the herbicide," Motta, the graduate student who led the research, said according to the university. "Our study shows that's not true."

I know that environmental organizations have been active in trying to ban this product for many years, but it is hard to go up against these huge corporations and win, especially in the climate we have in Washington now.

Have you used Roundup and did you think it was safe?

Joan and Paula get out the news

I am behind in my blog posts, but I invite my readers to check out these articles you will find online.

Thanks to Joan Gage for this post on Netwest Writers blog.
https://netwestwriters.blogspot.com/2017/08/coffee-with-poets-writers-features.html

A big thank you to Paula Canup for this article in our local newspapers.
https://www.cherokeescout.com/news-subscribers/local-author-glenda-beall-collaborates-new-book

 

This is Estelle Rice co-author of this book.

Deadline to order at discount price of $14.00 plus $3.00 S&H is September 20.
Regular retail price is $16.00 plus $3.00 S&H
This book will make great Christmas gifts for anyone who has a pet, who loves animals, who used to have a beloved pet.

To order: Make check or money order to Estelle Rice or Glenda Beall.
 Mail to Blue Heaven Press, PO Box 843, Hayesville, NC 28904

 

Lyn Hawks wrote about the pitfalls with agents coming and going.

Thanks to Tara Lynne Groth, I read this article that I must share with other writers.
https://lynhawks.com/dont-despair/

Finding an agent you like and can work with is difficult. One writer says she wasted a year with an agent who she finally realized was not that interested in her books.

Some people find the perfect agent and give that person accolades for all the help given to the author. In the above post by Lyn Hawks, writers can see the journey toward the published book is not straight and easy. Perseverance seems to be the most important virtue of the author who has books on the shelves in Barnes and Noble and on Amazon. How about receiving over 100 rejections? Would you stay with it that long?

Do you like to listen to podcasts? Do you read fiction or nonfiction?

I am in love with podcasts. I listen to them while I work around the house, at my desk and in bed at night. One of my favorites is Clear and Vivid, with host Alan Alda. The theme is communication. Recently Ann Patchett, author, was his guest. She said that Women read Fiction and Men read more Nonfiction. I would not have thought that to be true. Of course, I know many women read romance novels, and beach reads, but I thought men would be reading the mysteries and thrillers. My father enjoyed western novels.

I used to read fiction all the time. I lost myself in stories about other people, other times, other lands, and hated for a good book to end. From the time I was a child and read all the horse books in the book mobile to reading Ayn Rand in college, totally engrossed in the characters and the philosophy of each character. My early books were Little Women and the Yearling. Later I read Gone with the Wind. I was a big fan of these books. I was addicted to books when I was younger.

I liked those huge historical novels by James Mitchener, also, and books about large families that fought and made up and always loved each other, somewhat like my own. While I still have memories of scenes in the books, I can't remember the title or the authors of most of them. I like to read John Grisham for escape, or I used to read his books. Now I listen on Audible. I like Joslyn Jackson, a prolific Georgia writer and really enjoyed books by Haven Kimel, a North Carolina writer. Recently I listened to a memoir, Dimestore, by the author, Lee Smith. Very interesting book. She is a most interesting lady.

Lee Smith, author

I have no Sirius Radio in my car now. I canceled my subscription because I kept losing the signal here in the mountains. So I listen to podcasts while I drive.

I will not be teaching any classes at Writers Circle studio until next year. So I have a long time to catch up on reading and writing.

But first, I and my friend, Estelle, will be reading from our new book, Paws, Claws, Hooves, Feathers and Fins, and signing books wherever we get an opportunity. If you would like to have us come to a meeting or business once we get our books in hand, about mid-September, let us know. It must be within driving distance of Hayesville, NC.

We will be reading at the John C. Campbell Folk School in Brasstown, NC on Thursday, September 20, 7:00 PM. Come out and join us.

WRITERS NIGHT OUT FEATURES TWO CAROLINA POETS

August 29, 2018 – Well-published poets, Janice Townley Moore and Robert Lee Kendrick, will headline Writers’ Night Out at the Union County Community Center in Blairsville, GA, at 7 p.m. on Friday, September 14. The event is free and open to the public. Following the reading is an open microphone where audience members can share their own poetry or prose.

Janice Townley Moore

Robert Lee Kendrick

Moore, who lives in Hayesville, NC, is an Atlanta native and Associate Professor Emerita of English at Young Harris College. Her poetry chapbook is Teaching the Robins (Finishing Line Press) and her work has appeared in esteemed journals including The Georgia Review, Prairie Schooner, Shenandoah, Connecticut Review, Southern Poetry Review, The Journal of the American Medical Association, and numerous others. Among the anthologies that include her poetry are The Bedford Introduction to Literature and three volumes of The Southern Poetry Anthology (Contemporary Appalachia, Georgia, and North Carolina) from Texas Review Press. Moore serves as the coordinator of the North Carolina Writers Network - West poetry critique group, which meets at Tri-County Community College.

Robert Lee Kendrick grew up in Illinois and Iowa, but now calls Clemson, South Carolina home. After earning his M.A. from Illinois State University and his Ph.D. from the University of South Carolina, he held a number of jobs, ranging from house painter to pizza driver to grocery store worker to line cook. He now teaches. Kendrick’s poems appear in Birmingham Poetry Review, Valparaiso Poetry Review, Atlanta Review, Tar River Poetry, Louisiana Literature, and elsewhere. His first full-length collection, What Once Burst With Brilliance, was released in 2018 by Iris Press. His chapbook is Winter Skin (Main Street Rag Publishing, 2016)

Anyone wishing to participate in the open mic can sign up at the door to read three minutes of poetry or prose. Writers’ Night Out is sponsored by North Carolina Writers’ Network-West. The Union County Community Center is located at Butternut Creek Golf Course at 129 Union County Recreation Rd., Blairsville, Georgia 30512, off Highway 129 near the intersection of US 76, phone (706) 439-6092. Food and drinks are available for purchase in The View Grill, but please arrive by 6 pm to get served.  For more information on Writers’ Night Out, contact Karen Holmes at (404) 316-8466 or kpaulholmes@gmail.com.

 

www.karenpaulholmes.com 

www.simplycommunicated.com

www.facebook.com/karenholmespoetry

The genealogy behind our family stories

I am excited about taking a class with highly knowledgeable genealogist, Larry Van Horn. We are fortunate to have him here in our area. I have been a genealogy enthusiast for forty years and published a family history book, Profiles and Pedigrees, Descendants of Thomas Charles Council(1858 - 1911). I spent hours and hours of my time in south Georgia and north Florida, where my ancestors settled after leaving Virginia and North Carolina, searching through old newspapers and walking through old cemeteries.


John Cecil Council 1833 - 1910
My great grandfather

I poured over books in a Baptist church in Early county, Georgia and perused records in Tallahassee, Florida. Finally I had over a thousand family members documented in my Personal Ancestry computer program distributed by the Church of Latter Day Saints. In fact, I taught this program to members of the church in Albany, Georgia where I lived. But as time has gone by, my computer program has become obsolete. I was told to move my files to Legacy, the most popular program today.


However, I seem to have a problem. I can't get my files into Legacy. So I have signed up for a class with Larry and I do hope I can learn how to transfer my files. I want to continue with my genealogy on my computer. With all these classes listed below, I can see myself spending my fall and winter months "digging up bones" again.

Legacy Genealogy Software for Beginners:

You can do genealogy on paper. That is how it was done until only a few decades ago. However if you are researching your family history and not using genealogy software, why? This genealogy class is an introductory course teaching the fundamentals of Legacy 9, the gold standard of genealogy computer software. It will include instruction on the program menus, basic data entry, importing and exporting projects, SourceWriter, hashtags and other features available in Legacy 9. This course is a prerequisite to take any of the advanced Legacy courses offered at TCCC. 15 hrs.

Instructor: Van Horn                    Min: 8

August 28 – September 25           T

6:30 p.m. - 9:00 p.m.                   $45

(**Since postponing for one week, class will meet on two nights during one week of class in order to finish prior to Advanced class.**)

 

NEW Advanced Legacy Genealogy Software:

This genealogy computer class will explore some of the advanced feature sets and research tools available in the world-class genealogy software package. Completion of the Legacy Genealogy Software for Beginners is required to take this class. 17.5 hrs.

Instructor: Van Horn                   Min: 8

October 2 – November 15            T

6:30 p.m. - 9:00 p.m.                   $55

 

Searching for Your Ancestors:

Who am I and where did I come from? That intriguing question has made genealogy research one of America's most popular hobbies. However, where does one begin such research? What resources exist? How can you prove that what you find is true and valid? How do you go beyond America's borders to find roots in other English speaking nations? Searching for your Ancestors offers the beginner and even experienced genealogists alike a fresh approach to genealogy research. Subjects cover the full gambit from organizing your research to exploring your family history using traditional and electronic research, social media, and the newest genealogy tool – DNA testing. Whether you are new to genealogy or have been family hunting since microfilm days, this course will assist you in researching your family in the 21st century. This course is a prerequisite for many of the advanced genealogy courses offered at TCCC.  32.5 hrs.

Instructor: Van Horn                   Min: 10

August 23 – November 15           TH

6:30 p.m. - 9:00 p.m.                   $80

Lisa Long at TCCC says: Also!  We hope this will be of interest to genealogists and others. We are offering:

 

Photo Editing and Restoration: Keep your old photo!  Learn the best scanning and transfer methods to save images digitally.  Preserve the photos for generations to enjoy as you learn easy photo restoration methods to restore your faded and torn pictures.  Learn about various free programs for editing your photographic images. Class will include instruction on how to resize photos for email, printing, and professional editing. (Please note this class does not cover Adobe Photoshop.)  12 hrs.

Instructor: Harris                                  Min: 6

October 15 - November 5                    M

6:00 p.m. – 9:00 p.m.                          $65

I hope to take this photo editing class as well. I have many old photos and although I have done my best to save them, I know there are new and better methods available. I might see some of you there.