These stories are all from the times when we lived on Lake Geneva, Wisconsin and I was in junior high or high school.
1 - First Banana Peel Story - When Something Went Wrong - "Sailing 101 and the Crash Landing"
My folks bought an older refurbished class X 16 ft. sailboat for my brother and I to use and signed us up for sailing lessons. I was in about the 7th grade and B.J. was 2 years younger.
Right after we started lessons my Dad decided to have B.J. and I take the sailboat out while he drove next to us in the Boston Whaler. He thought we'd had enough lessons to know the gist of it, and we thought the same about him. We were all wrong.
The wind came up, it got a little gusty and scarey, and Dad yelled for us to take the sailboat back. I was older and holding onto the tiller then. Holding onto it, not really being a skipper.
As the sailboat headed toward the pier, with a rising wind, gathering speed, I waited for my father to yell over to us what to do since I didn't know how to land a sailboat. I could see the people on the pier looked worried as we got close. I didn't know yet about tacking into the wind and letting the sails luff.
Dad was yelling but in the wind we didn't understand what he said. So we, I, kept going. We saw the sunbathers on the pier get up and run away.
Crash! The bow hit the pier, the front plate and stay broke, the jib, mainsail and wooden mast fell over.
B.J. and I, sensing we were supposed to have done this differently, jumped up and ran off the boat all the way up to the house.
The next week our sailing class got to the part about landing the boat.
2- Second Banana Peel Story - A Rogue Wave, A Runaway Speedboat, and 2 Lifeguards
Lake Geneva had tour boats that created gigantic waves when they went by.
I was about 15 years old. One day I was going all out in the Boston Whaler, full throttle, when one of these waves hit just right at an angle. The boat jumped into the air, I lost my grip on the outboard motor handle, and I flew into the air, the water.
From the water, in my clothes, I saw the outboard motor handle swing over to the other side so the boat began to circle back toward me, really flying. This could have been life threatening.
I heard a voice yell - "Over here!" A Gordy's rental ski boat with 2 cute guys about my age roared in with their 80 horsepower mercs, one guy grabbed my arms and pulled me into the boat, and they roared out before the Boston Whaler could hit.
The Boston Whaler went into a pattern of roaring around in figure 8's, with the outboard motor handle swinging back and forth. Each time the handle swung the whole boat jumped into the air and began a different circle.
A crowd gathered on the shore. My rescuers and I joined them. Someone said "Guess we have to wait till it runs out of gas" but another said "let's foul the prop with a ski tow rope." And that's what they did. By then several water safety patrol boats were there too.
They wanted to know who did this. I tried to blend into the crowd. My father showed up. Oh dear.
I was grounded because it was thought I must have been really hot rodding to get thrown out of the boat. Finally my mom convinced my dad that it really was a freak accident.
My mom was grateful to the 2 high school guys who rescued me. They turned out to be swim team competitors who were lifeguards from Michigan. They were done with their lifeguard jobs because it was almost the end of the summer.
So, my mom invited the 2 lifeguards to stay with us for a week in my brother's room, and B.J. slept on the couch. We all became friends and got along quite well.
My steady boyfriend from high school was over there every single minute possible keeping an eye on my lifeguard/rescuers, who were continuing to keep an eye on me.
They may have thought I would have another boating accident at any moment.
Perhaps they thought since they had saved me that it was their duty to continue to be protective.
So when my boyfriend came over the lifeguard - rescue guys were always there too. I have to admit I enjoyed it.
3 - Third Banana Peel Story - The Iceboat Without a Rudder
My dad was co-owner of a class A iceboat. His friend, the other owner, was on the board for the Stock Exchange in Chicago. I guess they both liked risk.
Lake Geneva was 12 miles long and up to 3 miles wide, so it could accommodate an 80 foot long iceboat that had a telephone pole as it's center. The crew rode in a basket made of super thick ropes at the back of the telephone pole. The tiller controlled the angle of the blades on the ice, which protruded out on the sides. The class A ice boat looked a little like a big cross.
It looked like a quiet day, almost no wind, and my dad couldn't find anyone else to crew on the iceboat that day. The crew's job was to move across the rope basket and use their weight to keep the iceboat from tipping over, somersaulting really, on the ice. I only weighted about 110.
The giant telephone pole had a huge mast and sail. We pushed the iceboat to get it going, then hopped in. Everything was ok until the tiller broke.
The wind had come up. We were in a rope basket at the back of an 80 ft telephone pole with a sail full of wind on a lake with mostly a rocky shore. It only takes a little wind to go really fast.
And..we were going really fast. "We'll have to use our weight to try to steer it into the wind' my dad shouted. He released the mainsail sheet to let the boom swing out and try to let air out of the sail, but we were still moving fast, the runners hissing. We leaned way out on one side but the boat seemed to be heading right for the rocks. The runners weren't responding to the weight change.
We went to one side of the crew's basket and half jumped to the other side to throw some real weight into it. The rocks were getting closer and it would be like a car crash, only on ice.
Slowly the runners responded and we began to circle away from the shore. The iceboat kept circling and ran into the wind and eventually it slowed and stopped.
We looked over at the shore but no one was around. My dad said, "Don't ever tell your mother about this."
Showing posts with label memoirs. Show all posts
Showing posts with label memoirs. Show all posts
Wednesday, February 24, 2010
Tuesday, December 15, 2009
Storytelling - "My Father and the Spell of the Blue Light" by Kristi Marie Gott
My father was able to invent a story at the drop of a hat. He told the stories to us in such a realistic way that as children we listened seriously, thinking he was telling us the truth. Then after the story was over we could tell by his facial expression that he had made it all up.
Some of these stories were obviously not true, but we enjoyed them so much that we wished to suspend our belief systems for awhile. and enter into the stories fully.
Once my parents brought home a beautiful antique light made of blue etched glass and hung it from the ceiling. It cast a blue glow over the antique pine dining table.
When we all sat in the dark living room, viewing the blue light in the dining room with awe, I noticed my father's green eyes narrow. He raised his eyebrows at the same time, a sign that he was about to say something interesting.
Thus began his story of "The Spell of the Blue Light." It was like sitting by the campfire listening to stories, except we were home. I was in the third grade or somewhere near that age.
In the semi-dark living room, with the blue light washing over us, my father explained in a soft voice, "I didn't tell you right away, kids, but this blue light casts a spell. When you turn the light on the ghosts of the family who first owned the light, over 100 years ago, come back and sit under the light. If you look closely you can see something now. You can feel that someone is there."
We really did look closely, just in case someone or something was there. It did seem that in the blue glow there might be something different in the air, like shadows, under the light around the dining table. We looked at my father, hypnotized.
His quiet, sing song voice went on, describing the people and what they were doing. When he said, "and that's the story of the spell of the blue light" we were sorry the tale was already over.
I never went through the dining room again without looking at the blue light and
seeing if I "felt" anyone was there.
Having a father who was a storyteller made everything so much more fun. The real spell was the one cast by my father with his storytelling. It was like a magic spell that made ordinary things seem more interesting.
Some of these stories were obviously not true, but we enjoyed them so much that we wished to suspend our belief systems for awhile. and enter into the stories fully.
Once my parents brought home a beautiful antique light made of blue etched glass and hung it from the ceiling. It cast a blue glow over the antique pine dining table.
When we all sat in the dark living room, viewing the blue light in the dining room with awe, I noticed my father's green eyes narrow. He raised his eyebrows at the same time, a sign that he was about to say something interesting.
Thus began his story of "The Spell of the Blue Light." It was like sitting by the campfire listening to stories, except we were home. I was in the third grade or somewhere near that age.
In the semi-dark living room, with the blue light washing over us, my father explained in a soft voice, "I didn't tell you right away, kids, but this blue light casts a spell. When you turn the light on the ghosts of the family who first owned the light, over 100 years ago, come back and sit under the light. If you look closely you can see something now. You can feel that someone is there."
We really did look closely, just in case someone or something was there. It did seem that in the blue glow there might be something different in the air, like shadows, under the light around the dining table. We looked at my father, hypnotized.
His quiet, sing song voice went on, describing the people and what they were doing. When he said, "and that's the story of the spell of the blue light" we were sorry the tale was already over.
I never went through the dining room again without looking at the blue light and
seeing if I "felt" anyone was there.
Having a father who was a storyteller made everything so much more fun. The real spell was the one cast by my father with his storytelling. It was like a magic spell that made ordinary things seem more interesting.
Tuesday, November 10, 2009
Antiques Awaken Early Memories for Life Storytelling
A visit to the local antigue mall awakened childhood memories of a house filled with antigues. At the mall I saw a Primitive Early American "dry sink." The sink was a metal pan sitting in a recessed area on the wood counter. The roughly made drawers wobbled when you used them and the cabinet doors fit with gaps. It took me back to the house in the country full of antiques where I grew up.
Our antiques were mostly from colonial times, Early American, and were more primitive than the elegant antiques found in the later times.
Over the pot scorched pine dining table hung an antique light fixture. Etched blue glass cast a light that was almost like a spell when it was turned on at night. Sitting at the table, next to the rough hewn pine sideboard it was easy to feel like a time traveler going back.
We had a family legend that when the blue antique light was turned on time went back to colonial days, and an early American family appeared, sitting around the table in their colonial clothes. My father, a green-eyed Irishman, was a natural storyteller. He would spin yarn after yarn about the "spell of the blue light."
To this day I prefer antiques for home furniture because they tell a story. All you need is your imagination.
Today, my house has an antique spinning wheel, a pine table from the 1800's, and some early 1900's pressback chairs. Living surrounded by antiques and their stories is a way of life. History and nostalgia are always part of the surroundings.
Our antiques were mostly from colonial times, Early American, and were more primitive than the elegant antiques found in the later times.
Over the pot scorched pine dining table hung an antique light fixture. Etched blue glass cast a light that was almost like a spell when it was turned on at night. Sitting at the table, next to the rough hewn pine sideboard it was easy to feel like a time traveler going back.
We had a family legend that when the blue antique light was turned on time went back to colonial days, and an early American family appeared, sitting around the table in their colonial clothes. My father, a green-eyed Irishman, was a natural storyteller. He would spin yarn after yarn about the "spell of the blue light."
To this day I prefer antiques for home furniture because they tell a story. All you need is your imagination.
Today, my house has an antique spinning wheel, a pine table from the 1800's, and some early 1900's pressback chairs. Living surrounded by antiques and their stories is a way of life. History and nostalgia are always part of the surroundings.
Thursday, March 19, 2009
Make a Timeline of Your Life Events
One way to organize the life events before you start writing is to make a timeline.
Divide the timeline into sections, perhaps every 5 or ten years. In each section list the events that stand out as highlights that changed your life.
Later when you tell or write your life story you can launch into anecdotes about these events, the people involved, and the details of the circumstances. Remember, the historical data of each era adds background.
A tale about Christmas during the early 1960's might involve receiving a hula hoop or a pogo stick as a child for a gift. In the 1970's maybe you gave someone a "liesure suit." Gifts in the late 1990's might include electronics and computers.
As you tell your story you'll move through history. Everyone has a wealth of historical data in their memoirs. Your life story is especially important from this standpoint. It's a part of history!
Divide the timeline into sections, perhaps every 5 or ten years. In each section list the events that stand out as highlights that changed your life.
Later when you tell or write your life story you can launch into anecdotes about these events, the people involved, and the details of the circumstances. Remember, the historical data of each era adds background.
A tale about Christmas during the early 1960's might involve receiving a hula hoop or a pogo stick as a child for a gift. In the 1970's maybe you gave someone a "liesure suit." Gifts in the late 1990's might include electronics and computers.
As you tell your story you'll move through history. Everyone has a wealth of historical data in their memoirs. Your life story is especially important from this standpoint. It's a part of history!
Wednesday, November 19, 2008
Friday, June 13, 2008
Triggering Memories for Life Story Writing
Getting started with writing when faced with a blank computer screen or piece of paper can sometimes be a challenge. Below are some ideas to trigger memories that can be part of a life story.
1. If you had to divide your life into "chapters" what would they be?
2. What have been your favorite interests or hobbies throughout your life, and when did they start?
3. How did you happen to choose your career path?
4. What were the ups and downs you felt during the teen years?
5. What major historical events have taken place in the world during your life and how did these events effect you?
6. What was your elementary school experience like?
7. Are there some causes that you have passionate feelings about and how did you first become interested in them?
8. If you wrote a brief timeline or outline of your life, what would be ten major highlights?
9. What were your favorite places to live and why?
10. Which people influenced you the most in your life?
1. If you had to divide your life into "chapters" what would they be?
2. What have been your favorite interests or hobbies throughout your life, and when did they start?
3. How did you happen to choose your career path?
4. What were the ups and downs you felt during the teen years?
5. What major historical events have taken place in the world during your life and how did these events effect you?
6. What was your elementary school experience like?
7. Are there some causes that you have passionate feelings about and how did you first become interested in them?
8. If you wrote a brief timeline or outline of your life, what would be ten major highlights?
9. What were your favorite places to live and why?
10. Which people influenced you the most in your life?
Wednesday, June 4, 2008
Wednesday, May 7, 2008
Video - Novelist Joyce Carol Oates Talks About Writing
Award winning novelist Joyce Carol Oates talks about the importance of starting your story with people.
Saturday, April 19, 2008
Dividing Your Life Story Into Stages
Starting a life story can be a little like opening a closet you haven't looked at for awhile, and having everything fall out in a heap. Taking all those experiences and organizing them helps separate them into smaller, easier to handle chunks.
There are many different ways to divide the life story experiences into groups. One way I found recently used "The Eight Life Stages." Seeing how one stage, and it's experiences, led to the next stage, helps make the story meaningful. I learned some new things about myself by looking at my life story this way.
You can also visit the webpage for the Cuesta Community College Adult Emeritus class I take on Your Life Story for tips from instructor/facilitator Myla Collier.
A theory of Developmental Stages of Life, by the reknowned Dr. Eric Erikson, have long been accepted worldwide and taught in college classes. A glance at these stages can also help clarify your life story as you strive to put all those details into a timeline or groups of short stories.
There are many different ways to divide the life story experiences into groups. One way I found recently used "The Eight Life Stages." Seeing how one stage, and it's experiences, led to the next stage, helps make the story meaningful. I learned some new things about myself by looking at my life story this way.
You can also visit the webpage for the Cuesta Community College Adult Emeritus class I take on Your Life Story for tips from instructor/facilitator Myla Collier.
A theory of Developmental Stages of Life, by the reknowned Dr. Eric Erikson, have long been accepted worldwide and taught in college classes. A glance at these stages can also help clarify your life story as you strive to put all those details into a timeline or groups of short stories.
Saturday, October 6, 2007
Putting Together Pieces of Our Lives Into One Mozaic
Is telling our life stories a way of becoming more comfortable with our memories? Could it be a way to organize the jumbled pile that sits in disarray at the back of the mind?
Telling life stories has been a part of human culture since people sat around the fireside in a cave and drew illustrations on the walls. Now we can sit around a table to share our life stories and pass around photos or even show life story videos.
Putting together the pieces of our lives into one mosaic is part of telling a life story. Starting with birth, a chronological narrative that moves from year to year takes the pieces and builds a picture.
Adventure, laughter, drama - they’re all part of your life story, whether you are a quiet homebody or a celebrity. The characteristics of a classic novel with a hero exist in the story of your everyday living. Your struggles against the world, other people, or yourself, create the plot. Your strengths and “fatal flaws” can make your character complex instead of one sided.
__________________
This week my Cuesta College Adult Emeritus Life Story Writing class met for the fourth time this Fall. We sit at several rectangular tables pushed together at the ends to form one long table, and each of us reads at least two pages of our life stories.
The class is held at the Grover Beach Community Center, and it begins at 9:30 am and goes until 12:30 pm, with a breaktime in the middle. Anthropologist Myla Colllier, who has taught at California Polytechnic University in San Luis Obispo and Cuesta Community College, is the instructor.
After each person's weekly life story reading, Myla and the class discuss interesting aspects of the story excerpt. This often includes related historical events which may have been associated with events in the story. For instance, someone who moved to California from the dustbowl during the 1930's would have experienced the depression.
As we read the material we’ve written for this week there is laughter, and sometimes there are tears. There is humor, there is tragedy. The nonjudgmental aspect and the privacy of the class helps us to keep our writing real. Historical events, trends, and styles are woven into the life stories.
___________________
Reflecting on the popularity of life history and personal narrative writing today led me to consider the following question.
What does it mean when people pursue opposites? Two trends today seem contradictory. We see more personal narratives told through life stories, journals, and personal blogs than ever. Books based on life stories have been topping The New York Times Bestseller Lists. At the same time, we spend more time around machines and technology. As life has become more technological, we have become more personal as if to find a balance. Being more modern might be causing us to do more old fashioned storytelling.
This week the top 16 books on the New York Times Bestseller List include 7 personal narratives, and 4 books that are biographical. It’s not necessary today to be a celebrity to write a bestseller, and everyday people writing about their struggles and dreams can appear on the list. “Louder Than Words, A Mother’s Journey in Healing Autism,” by Jenny McCarthy, is listed as number four this week on the bestseller list.
___________________
Sharing personal details of our life stories is common these days, although many of us still remember when our personal lives were kept private. A greater tolerance and a less judgmental attitude means we feel more comfortable about being open than we did before.
Telling a life story can sometimes be like opening the door to the storage closet. You have to dodge the tumbling heap that bursts out and then try to sort through it. Could it be that we are straightening our mental filing systems, and rearranging the facts in our minds? Perhaps it’s a little like giving the house a good spring cleaning, opening all the windows, rearranging the furniture, and redecorating. It can be very refreshing.
At the Hallmark Pressroom an article titled “Journal Writing Increases in Importance” predicts this will be “a banner year for diaries and journaling.” Hallmark offers 75 different journals, and an estimated 12 million journals are sold a year in the U.S.. Writing down thoughts, feelings, and details of our lives is described by Hallmark as part of a personal writing trend today. Some life stories are written with organized facts and others are streams of consciousness.
____________________
Being able to look back at ourselves in a life story from the perspective of a later time helps us to see ourselves as others might see us. We can objectively learn from mistakes, and make plans for the future.
Events that were once painful may be seen from a distance of decades as softened by time. Humorous situations can gain additional comedy with retelling.
As the writers share funny moments with each other the laughter in my Life Story Writing class frequently continues as we end each session and stroll out to our cars.
Telling life stories has been a part of human culture since people sat around the fireside in a cave and drew illustrations on the walls. Now we can sit around a table to share our life stories and pass around photos or even show life story videos.
Putting together the pieces of our lives into one mosaic is part of telling a life story. Starting with birth, a chronological narrative that moves from year to year takes the pieces and builds a picture.
Adventure, laughter, drama - they’re all part of your life story, whether you are a quiet homebody or a celebrity. The characteristics of a classic novel with a hero exist in the story of your everyday living. Your struggles against the world, other people, or yourself, create the plot. Your strengths and “fatal flaws” can make your character complex instead of one sided.
__________________
This week my Cuesta College Adult Emeritus Life Story Writing class met for the fourth time this Fall. We sit at several rectangular tables pushed together at the ends to form one long table, and each of us reads at least two pages of our life stories.
The class is held at the Grover Beach Community Center, and it begins at 9:30 am and goes until 12:30 pm, with a breaktime in the middle. Anthropologist Myla Colllier, who has taught at California Polytechnic University in San Luis Obispo and Cuesta Community College, is the instructor.
After each person's weekly life story reading, Myla and the class discuss interesting aspects of the story excerpt. This often includes related historical events which may have been associated with events in the story. For instance, someone who moved to California from the dustbowl during the 1930's would have experienced the depression.
As we read the material we’ve written for this week there is laughter, and sometimes there are tears. There is humor, there is tragedy. The nonjudgmental aspect and the privacy of the class helps us to keep our writing real. Historical events, trends, and styles are woven into the life stories.
___________________
Reflecting on the popularity of life history and personal narrative writing today led me to consider the following question.
What does it mean when people pursue opposites? Two trends today seem contradictory. We see more personal narratives told through life stories, journals, and personal blogs than ever. Books based on life stories have been topping The New York Times Bestseller Lists. At the same time, we spend more time around machines and technology. As life has become more technological, we have become more personal as if to find a balance. Being more modern might be causing us to do more old fashioned storytelling.
This week the top 16 books on the New York Times Bestseller List include 7 personal narratives, and 4 books that are biographical. It’s not necessary today to be a celebrity to write a bestseller, and everyday people writing about their struggles and dreams can appear on the list. “Louder Than Words, A Mother’s Journey in Healing Autism,” by Jenny McCarthy, is listed as number four this week on the bestseller list.
___________________
Sharing personal details of our life stories is common these days, although many of us still remember when our personal lives were kept private. A greater tolerance and a less judgmental attitude means we feel more comfortable about being open than we did before.
Telling a life story can sometimes be like opening the door to the storage closet. You have to dodge the tumbling heap that bursts out and then try to sort through it. Could it be that we are straightening our mental filing systems, and rearranging the facts in our minds? Perhaps it’s a little like giving the house a good spring cleaning, opening all the windows, rearranging the furniture, and redecorating. It can be very refreshing.
At the Hallmark Pressroom an article titled “Journal Writing Increases in Importance” predicts this will be “a banner year for diaries and journaling.” Hallmark offers 75 different journals, and an estimated 12 million journals are sold a year in the U.S.. Writing down thoughts, feelings, and details of our lives is described by Hallmark as part of a personal writing trend today. Some life stories are written with organized facts and others are streams of consciousness.
____________________
Being able to look back at ourselves in a life story from the perspective of a later time helps us to see ourselves as others might see us. We can objectively learn from mistakes, and make plans for the future.
Events that were once painful may be seen from a distance of decades as softened by time. Humorous situations can gain additional comedy with retelling.
As the writers share funny moments with each other the laughter in my Life Story Writing class frequently continues as we end each session and stroll out to our cars.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
