THE HERALD REPUBLICAN
MONDAY, AUGUST 26, 2013
kpcnews.com
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A writer finds her inspiration BY GAIL WILKINSON
“The best things in life aren’t things.” — Art Buchwald
PHOTO CONTRIBUTED
Salsa sampler
Maria Arnemann, local dance teacher, gave a salsa dance demonstration at the August meeting of the Steuben Woman’s Club. The club will meet on Sept. 9 at Pleasant View Church of Christ, 200 Fox Lake Road, at 11 a.m. The program will be Steve Smith of Four Corners Gallery. Lunch reservations are to be made by Sept. 5 by calling Mary Fatchett at 665-9376.
Community Calendar •
Today
• Alcoholics Anonymous Meetings: 8 a.m. First Congregational United Church of Christ, 314 W. Maumee St., Angola. • GED Classes: 9 a.m. Steuben County Literacy Coalition, 1208 S Wayne St, Angola. (260) 665-3357 • Weight Watchers: 9 a.m. Angola United Methodist Church, 220 W. Maumee St., Angola. • Guided Buffalo Tours: 10 a.m. Wild Winds Buffalo Preserve, 6975 N. Ray Road, Fremont. (260) 495-0137 • Move It to Improve It: 10:15 a.m. Steuben County Council on Aging, 317 S Wayne St, Angola. (260) 665-9856 • Happy Knitters and Bubbly Crocheters: 11 a.m. Steuben County Council on Aging, 317 S Wayne St, Angola. (260) 665-9856 • Weight Watchers: 5:30 p.m. Angola United Methodist Church, 220 W. Maumee St., Angola. • Angola Rotary Meeting: 6 p.m. Elks Lodge, 2003 N. Wayne St., Angola. • Steuben 9-12: 6 p.m. Angola Christian Church, 1297 N. C.R. 200W. • Little River Chorus rehearsal: 6 p.m. Fairview Missionary Church, 525 E. C.R. 200N, Angola. • Diabetes Support Group: 7 p.m. Hamilton United Methodist Church, 7780 S. Wayne St., Hamilton. • Alcoholics Anonymous Big Book Meeting: 7:30 p.m. First Congregational United Church of Christ,
314 W. Maumee St., Angola.
Tuesday, Aug. 27 • Alcoholics Anonymous Meetings: 8 a.m. First Congregational United Church of Christ, 314 W. Maumee St., Angola. • GED Classes: 9 a.m. Steuben County Literacy Coalition, 1208 S Wayne St, Angola. (260) 665-3357 • Guided Buffalo Tours: 10 a.m. Wild Winds Buffalo Preserve, 6975 N. Ray Road, Fremont. • ImagiKnit: 10 a.m. Carnegie Public Library of Steuben County, 322 S. Wayne St., Angola. • Story Time: 10 a.m. Carnegie Public Library of Steuben County, 322 S. Wayne St., Angola. • Tri-State Duplicate Bridge: 12:15 p.m. Presbyterian Chapel of the Lakes, 300 Orland Road, Angola. • Story Time: 1 p.m. Carnegie Public Library of Steuben County, 322 S. Wayne St., Angola. • Grief Support Group: 4:30 p.m. Cameron Woods, 701 W. Harcourt Rd., Angola. • Community Soup and Supper: 5 p.m. Faith Harvest Church, 200 Park Ave., Angola. • Bingo: 6 p.m. Angola Kids League Bingo Hall, 1409 N. Wayne Street, Angola. (260) 665-2900 • Art Study Group: 6:30 p.m. Carnegie Public Library of Steuben County, 322 S. Wayne St., Angola. • Alcoholics Anonymous Meeting: 7:30 p.m. First Congregational United Church of Christ, 314 W. Maumee St., Angola.
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It was one of those sunlit Saturdays in spring, so fresh that even my 3-yearold could feel the magic. I stood at the kitchen counter making sandwiches while he perched on a chair, swinging his feet, enjoying the feel of wearing the first shorts of the season. The plastic tips of his tennis-shoe laces clicked against the tile floor with a comforting rhythm. “Close your eyes, Mom,” he said. He whispered, “It sounds like we’re spitting watermelon seeds into the grass.” He was so right. Just like that, the sound of those clicking laces instead became puffed-up cheeks firing glossy seeds, translucent pink pulp splattering the ground, juice oozing down our chins. His simple words painted the picture. As a mother of toddlers, I was a consumer of writing, not a creator, but I soon found myself writing down the kids’ extraordinary discoveries (“Those
bugs fly slow enough that I can catch them! And their butts light up!”) and endearing phrases (“So you guys are Santa? How does Dad make it down the chimney?”). The words painted the picture and brought me back every time I read them. I was onto something. But it was someone else’s words that inspired me to action. My mom asked me to transcribe my grandfather’s letters from World War I. Written in pencil on fragile paper, they were fading with time and would soon be lost. I became engrossed in the picture of a Swedish farm boy with an easy smile and white-blond hair. A teen
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who had rarely left town, donning a scratchy wool uniform and traversing the ocean to a place called Germany. The picture grew to include the black-haired beauty who waited for him at home, knitting socks and mailing paper-thin sugar cookies to Red Cross stations on the French border. A picture of my grandparents’ young lives and love emerged and grew into a book. After that, I became attentive to the pictures that words invoked, and found inspiration everywhere. I found a tackle box in the garage scribbled with crooked letters, “Screwdrivers and Secrets.” Oh, the places those two words took my imagination! (Never mind that my son said later, “You know that says ‘Screwdrivers and Sockets,’ right?”) I began to carry a little notebook in my purse and scribbled in it when words painted a picture in my brain. My friend described his high-school job, in charge of mixing instant potatoes with a five-gallon bucket and a garden hose. A
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World War II POW from my church told me about the plane that was shot from under him, unluckily named “Borrowed Time.” My husband reminded me of a desolate Nevada motel where the wake-up call was a sharp rap on the door. I found that a word or phrase could paint that picture, and the game — the challenge — was to paint them into a story. Readers noticed, commenting that, “I felt like I could see it,” or “After I read it, I was right there!” I learned the writer’s lesson that words matter, and finding the right ones can be as easy as tuning in to the world around you. I used to think that inspiration was big. A bombshell. An epiphany. But it is more like a wafting smell, just there to be noticed. Like watermelon, screwdrivers, mashed potatoes or a wake-up call. Waiting for the writer in you to sniff, smile and paint 1,000 pictures with your words. (c)2013 by Chicken Soup for the Soul Publishing, LLC
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