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The drive home from the New Year's Eve party was the perfect opportunity to practice.
We were invited to gather for New Year's Eve at the home of one of my husband's brothers. Over 20 of us celebrated into the wee hours. As my husband and I traveled the furthest, we were offered to sleepover so we could be well rested and start the New Year right.
When I sat in the car, I wanted to review the scenes of "The Gardener's Wife", the Colombian story. I would meet with Holly Robison on January 2nd to tell the whole story, and I wanted to be ready. I expected to the story to be told in about 40 minutes so there were many details to remember.
Along the highway, I saw the Utah mountains. I pretended that the mountains were the ones in Colombia and made them more green in my mind.
Eventually I pictured the Wife in the story looking down from the mountains and into a corner of the garden. I did not speak words of what I saw. This was something I witnessed through thoughts and driving upon the highway.
The imaginings continued.
The Wife thinks she sees a child, only to discover it is squash. The Wife laughs at herself while have a touch of sadness as she and her husband are childless.
This was not hard to feel as my husband and I have been married for over seven and a half years and we have wanted children from the beginning.
I thought of the winding river that brought a baby one by one to the Wife. As Utah is a dry place, the winding highway became my "winding river".
And so was my drive home. Something outside my window would transform into something inside "The Gardener's Wife" story.
If only the pictures in my head would translate into words from my mouth to share with others. Then I would transform from being dreamer to being storyteller.
Until we tell again,
Rachel Hedman
Professional Storyteller
Former Co-Chair of Youth, Educators, and Storytellers Alliance (2005-2008)
How-To Blog: http://storytellingadventures.blogspot.com
Performance Blog: http://familyfamine.blogspot.comOther places to find me: Twitter, YouTube, Facebook, LinkedIn, Professional Storyteller
2 comments:
Behind the wheel of the car is almost my best place to come up with song and story ideas. The only place better is on a bicycle where the radio cannot interfere.
Dear Nathan:
I rarely play the radio in the car. I prefer to limit the distractions, too.
Though, there is something about driving among mountains, trees, or other natural miracles that heightens the senses.
Until we tell again,
Rachel Hedman
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