STORYTIME TAPESTRY

The Newsletter devoted to spreading love and cultural awareness throughout the world

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Special Treat ??“ Debra Shiveley

Aug 9, 2005? 

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Straw ....I remember the year I was allowed to be a child.

Debra Shiveley

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My neighbor spread straw on his lawn today so that the ducks and geese will not eat his newly sown grass seed.?  A rain filled breeze swept my way and with it came sweet-scented memories.

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The Farm.?  Where a child could be a child.?  My grandparents -?  Mawmaw and Pawpaw, sturdy legs planted on the land, strong legs, shielding a child from hunger, from danger.

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Straw....I remember the front porch with rocking chairs creaking and Pawpaw singing.? 

? ???Amazing Grace.???? 

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A canopy of stars above and below.?  Lightening bugs sparkling on the hill:?  iced tea; pie.? ?  I lean against his legs.?  A calloused finger stretches forth.?  ???Serpent Mound,??? he says.?  ???You??™ve got kin buried there.????  He lights his pipe.

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I crawl into his lap and snuggle.?  His chest is boney.?  He works too hard to put on fat.?  He pulls out his harmonica.

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? ???Amazing Grace.???

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Straw....I remember the barn.
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Fragrant hay and chubby kittens.?  Soft, roley poley balls of purring fur.?  Sweet babies.?  The hayloft, my domain where ???Nancy Drew??? was devoured as hungrily as my grandmother??™s biscuits.

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Warm teats in the palms of my hands.?  The metallic sheeeeeesh sheeeeeesh of the warm rich milk as it hits the side of the bucket.?  My cheek against warm, contented cow.?  Here you go! A cat catches a well aimed stream and looks satisfied.

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Bucket fed calves, their noses knocking against the metal pail.?  Soft nose, nuzzling for more.?  Squawking chickens, gently lifted from straw filled nests; eggs are gathered for breakfast.

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Straw....I remember Mawmaw??™s kitchen.? 

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Here is food: yeast rolls and fried chicken, gravy,?  mashed potatoes, peas;?  summer salad, corn on the cob, noodles and fresh green beans.? ?  Here is security and love.

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Straw....I remember running wild - at last I can be a child - running through pastures and woods.

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There are grapevines to swing on and hills to climb.?  I walk with the cows.?  I carry a stick.?  It??™s handy to scratch a bovine??™s hard to reach itch.

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Sun drenched rocks on which to dream.?  ???Wolf Run,??? a clear running stream gorgeous with its blue clay walls.?  I stop and eat my lunch of thick ham sandwiches? with home made bread, Mawmaw??™s cured ham, preserved pickles and secret recipe spread.?  I drink from the stream.?  It??™s cold and delicious.?  Crawdads dart by.?  I laugh and raise my face to the sun.

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Straw....I remember the ???Joke Tree.???

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My cousins would come ???a visitin??™of the weekends.????  We would dart from the house and run to the pig pen over which the aged tree reigned.?  Up her trunk we would scramble and clamber over thick, leaf filled limbs.?  ???What did the mayonnaise say to the refrigerator??  Shut the door, I??™m dressing!????  Exaggerated laughs; we swing from the limbs and dare each other to jump and miss the slop trough.

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Straw....I remember the smell of straw and cows and manure.? 

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I remember the smell of pipe smoke and hay lofts, rich milk and good food.?  I remember the smell of sunshine and laughter.?  I remember the smell of love.

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About Me:

Hello, my? name is Debra Welch.?  I'm 52 and the very proud mother of a soon-to-be 13? year old son named Christopher.

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Christopher is adopted, so I have some writings on the subject, and he was? born with a moderately severe unilateral clefting of the lip, gums and hard and soft palates.?  He is beautiful!?  Chris also has learning differences:? ADD, Dysgraphia, and Executive Function and? Working Memory Deficit.?  He is the joy of our lives.

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I have been writing since age nine.?  My father came to visit and plopped down a pad of paper and a pencil.?  "Write me a poem," he said "and call it 'Poetry Problems.'"?  This is when I learned that my father and great grandfather both wrote poetry.?  I was being tested.

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I have just finished co-authoring a novel with my cousin titled "Jesus Gandhi Jetta Mae Adams," a murder mystery set in Columbus, Ohio and am starting my second novel.