Week 8: authorial presence: problem/situation/question/explanation piece

We pull into the parking lot of the Big Dipper, the one and only ice cream parlor in West Enfield. Travis and I jump out of the truck, we run towards the ice cream counter. I look back and my grandfather is still standing next to the truck with the door open. I run back to ask him what I can get. I run around the side of the truck and he quickly put a glass bottle behind the seat, he looks up and smiles at me.

“Grandpa does it matter what I get?”

“Whatever you want sweetie.” he says.

I take his hand and we make the short walk to the counter to order our ice cream. It a beautiful summer day, the three of us sit on the tail gate of the truck in the parking lot. I tried to eat my ice cream as quick as I could, but it still dripped down my hand onto my shorts. We sat feeling the warm summer breeze and finished our ice cream cones. I listened to Travis and Grandpa talked about planning a fishing trip to Jo-Mary Lake in a few weeks. Slowly we all make our way inside of the cab of the truck and make the short trip back to our house.

We cost into the driveway say our goodbyes and climb out of the truck. I look over to the house my Mom is coming towards us,

“Kids your Dad needs you in house.”

Thinking that Dad is going to put us to work we don’t move very fast. After we got inside the house I look out the front window, I see Grandpa and Mom talking. She waves her hands around and he shakes his head at her.  Then I see him back out of the driveway and she quickly walk back into the house.

Once she was back in the house she looked to us and says,

“You guys can either go outside or upstairs to our rooms.”

I knew that something wasn’t right so I didn’t make any kind of fuss and we went right upstairs. Travis and I quietly sat down right next to the door in his room; his room is closest to the stairs. That way we can try to hear what Mom and Dad are saying.

She picks up the phone

“Mom, did you know?”

“How could you have not known, MOM?”

“He was driving with the kids in the truck.”

“Is he home yet?”

“I have no other choose then to call them … I know he’s my father.”

“He didn’t care when he picked the kids up.”

“I’m sorry; it’s what I have to do.”

Week 7: Structure; Profile; Lecture

It’s a beautiful sunny day, everyone just killing time waiting for the work day to go by. He walks in like any other customer. She leans over “Is that who I think it is?” People are unsure if he should be treated just like anyone else or better. He isn’t really famous but he truly a local celebrity. Being on TV makes you famous in most Mainer eyes.  At the counter he places his order “Can I please have two chicken Caesar salads and a two Diet Coke’s”. Just like any other order that day, it’s in and out.  Once everyone finds out that his wife Judy has a store in downtown Orono and we see him on a regular base at the Harvest Moon Deli, then he no longer seemed famous.   

Pastor Smith takes his place in the front of his congregation, and is ready to preach the word of god. He is looking to lead his members into the arms of the Lord. He is part of the community in Orono always offering a helping hand to the members of the United Methodist and anyone that may be in need. In his words “Our passion is being part of a church family, while witnessing God’s love and grace being connected to the lives of those in our community and beyond.” In May of 2009 he graduated from Bangor Theological Seminary and in July of that year he became the pastor.

It’s 6pm time for the local news, you turn on WLBZ NEWS CENTER 2.  You get to see our very own TV weather man Steve MacKay. He has been part of WLBZ news team since 1994; he has been approved by the American Meteorological Society and the National Weather Association.  He has a passion providing us with the most accurate weather and supporting the community in any way he can. Steve says, "One of the best things about my job is visiting schools to talk to kids about weather." He is lending a helping hand to our local school system getting the children excited about the world around them.

Week 6, autobiographical 'slice' & imagination

As a small girl I didn’t love anything more than my Barbie dolls, my My Little Pony and a bright pink Holly Hobbie blanket. This blanket was the only pink thing I didn’t hate.  I would pack it for every sleep over and I never seemed to think it was an issue. I was never ashamed or felt weird that I wanted piece of home with me. I slept with well into middle school. The only reason I don’t sleep with it now because it’s fall apart.

Sometime during my freshman year in high school I was yard saling with my mother and found the same soft fabric that my Holly blanket was made of. You would have thought I had just struck gold, but I felt like I did. I got about ten yards of four different colored fabrics for $5.00, it was great. I gave the material to my Grandmother, she made my first blanket and I wanted her make my second one. There isn’t anything better that have a little bit of love added to something. I remember the day she gave me that blanket, my next chapter.

This was the blanket I had when graduated from high school, when I moved in with my first boyfriend. This is the blanket that went on our honeymoon with us; it was in the hospital with me when I had my son. Over the year it really started showing its age. It was just wearing out. I had my Grandmother repair it over and over again till the day I was told that was the last patch job that could be done. With every wash after that it would rip a little bit more and the stuffing started falling out. When one piece of material goes through so much, how can you pack it in a closet with all the blankets that didn’t make the cut?   

During the years that followed I had purchased so many different small throw blankets trying to replace the ones before. I had to settle for characterless blankets, they were comfortable and warm. But never felt special. Till 3 Christmas ago, when my sister gave me my current blanket. It wasn’t home made but it was pretty close. She told me that the minute she saw it, she knew it would be perfect for me. It just happened to be my two favored colors, green and brown. It made me feel grounded and loved. You can’t ask for anything more. This blanket rings in my next chapter, or we could call it phase three.  

My Grandmother is 82 now and she just can’t sew like she use too.  With each new blanket comes a new phase in my life. First was young and bright, next came colorful and complicated, then a few years of blankets that just didn’t fell right and now I have a blanket helped me find my roots. I know this isn’t my last one, but that’s ok I love each one differently and I know I will love the next one just as much.