This spring when the trees were fully blooming and the wind came warm off the sea for the first time in months, I was in New London Ct. My annual trek to the Ct. Storytelling Festival http://www.connstorycenter.org/festival.htm I was there to gather in the warmth of story, the exuberance of new and renewed friendship ,… Continue Reading
This is the essence of a Cowboy Church program I presented at the Northeast Regionals of Cowboy Mounted Shooting at Three County Fairgrounds on Aug 8, 2010. I love the fact that cowboy mounted shooting has cowboy church preceding many Sunday competitions. Cowboy Mounted Shooting is one of the fastest growing equine sports. 1880’s clad… Continue Reading
Forget the temperature, forget the mosquito’s and the rain even. There is a natural draw to fire we all find irresistible and when we gather there no matter how big or small it doesn’t take long for a story to start. This particular fire is at Blue Slope Farm Museum, Franklin Ct. http://www.blueslope.com/ The Staebner… Continue Reading
What does summer taste like? Like the ice cream cone these girls lick at the Tolland County 4-H fair. www.4-hfair.org/tolland/county.html . It certainly tastes like a trip to the Uconn Dairy Bar and the Jonathan Supreme mounded up in a cup and drizzled with chocolate fudge syrup. The Uconn cows got up early to make… Continue Reading
Our family came to Mansfield, Ct. in 1772 from Killingly Ct ( near RI line) they have farmed the same fields ever since. The farm has grown, especially through the 1950’s as other area farms went out of business and were bought up. Now the fields are united as you will see in the video… Continue Reading
How does Blogger Mobile work? here is a little instrcutional video on mobile blogging give it a try! Continue Reading
Trip to Timpanagos? See what was captured there last year! You know you want to go in 30 seconds! Key to promoting Storytelling -Let them tell it like it is! Continue Reading
Have you ever had a conversation with a Red Tailed Hawk? As a conversationalist this Red Tail is much like my teenage son, if he’s hungry don’t bother, but in the right time and mood he will share something worth the wait. One of the blessings of living most of my life in the country… Continue Reading
We talked a few blogs ago about Civil War history and reenactments and I just received email updates now available from one of the calendars, so I have included the link for you. There are listings from many different states so there just may be one near you. Seeing an encampment is a great way… Continue Reading
1:10 p.m. Time for milking at our farm Mountain Dairy ( http://www.mountaindairy.com/ ). We all have chores that are set by schedule maybe none quite so time demanding as milking cows. None the less we set up certain jobs for certain times and it is no different with our storytelling. Making time to get things… Continue Reading
We all are carrying somebody, and when we stumble there is someone there to pick up and carry us. It is a circle, an arc, a reach, a beam. Whatever your vision share it. I suppose some people never seek balance, never think about the give and take, they haven’t grasped the power. I can’t… Continue Reading
The vault released so many vital data bits our heads were swimming with names and dates. For me at least there was the understanding of the sections of town the boundaries and the places mentioned. Laura was baffled by the geography of the search and relied on my clarifications for what was nearby etc. From… Continue Reading
The phone call came a couple months ago from Wisconsin. The caller, Laura found my name on the town website listed as the Cemetery Sexton and she was searching for records. On a long quest to follow her family genealogy she soon discovered the Mayflower Society and how to trace back and show your roots… Continue Reading
July 4, 2008 found our family standing to the side of the Battle of Gettysburg. http://www.gettysburgreenactment.com/ As the valley dropped away before us the hush tone settled over the audience and a troop of soldiers moved silently from the edge of the woods and farm below. A bugle call pierced the hot summer air and… Continue Reading
Imagine now if those fireworks we stay up late to watch were really the ‘Bombs bursting in air”. Can we stop a minute and be thankful that the ooo’s and ahhh’s are the response, not the screams as people flee the whistle of an incoming threat. It is a rare day in America when we… Continue Reading
” If you miss the train I’m on , you will know that I am gone you can hear the whistle blow 500 miles.” Even in the sad words of this old folk song there is a story. You have to catch the train and and it won’t wait for anybody. Once it’s left the… Continue Reading
The award night, the glittering lights, anticipation, a heart pounding scenario. To be recognized among a group of peers for a performance of standout quality and dynamic proportion, yes Award Night is a momentous occasion. Just who will be filling the audience and what is their take on your big moment. Around here it is… Continue Reading
We had nothing left to do but load the horse and drive back, except….Daybreak hates horse trailers has a history and a no I won’t load, game on his agenda. Here on this back road on the Mass. New Hampshire border I do not want to be part of a 3 hour loading event. Our… Continue Reading
Dear God, Let that sound of a snapping twig be from our horse Daybreak not a BEAR! The night is so dark I turn the little squeeze light in the direction of the sound, nothing. I walk more, “Daybreak”, I call out softly, hoping if it’s a bear he doesn’t like voices and will leave.… Continue Reading
Panic isnt pretty but there was no one to witness and if I lost it now we might lose Daybreak forever. A deep breath and I pulled the cell phone from my pocket. I called the farms owners we needed help and they needed to know where all the little logging roads and inlets went.… Continue Reading
That lump, you see it on the tailgate? Well that’s me, and I ended up sleeping there. I have to say it wasnt really sleep the body just stopped functioning. It had been a long day of announcing at our cowboy mounted shooting competition. I was also cheering on my son Tim and his horse… Continue Reading
Among the items listed on my resume should be event planner extroidinaire! In the job description of “Mom” there is a whole section on planning, the usuals being birthday parties and sleepovers, vacations and family holidays. Each deserving the remembrance as either incredible or awful, and usually it was unforseen circumstances that brought on the… Continue Reading
I just finished a great read! Saddled by: Susan Richards (isbn 978-0-547-24172-2 ) What a good way to kick off summer, by reading a book that keeps you enthralled until the last page. You understand that it was the title and the absolutley elegant horse head on the cover that made me pick it up.… Continue Reading
Where do personal stories come from but our lives! Well since mine looks like a whirlwind that went through a farmers market it has a lot of interesting daily happenings. Some get a little carried away and become stories I can share. This weeks adventures in building a mini of our church as a parade… Continue Reading
Memorial Day weekend is here! I dont know how we finally escaped the clutches of winter but it was not so very long ago. I have the pool nearly ready, getting the right balance of chemistry in the water all that remains to bring about peels of laughter when the kids jump in. Haying season… Continue Reading
The seats are filled and the fans are spirited as the double header settles in to game two. Having gone extra innings to break a tie it will be interesting to see who has the staying power as the two teams return to the field of story with their lineup. First up to bat and… Continue Reading
Red Sox or Yankees? Uconn or U. Tenn? Does it matter? Mass Mouth ( http://www.massmouth.ning.com/ ) or the Moth ( http://www.themoth.org/ ) no not in storytelling or really in sports. We can choose who we follow and root for, we just need to pick our game and be enthused. Put on your Storyteller t-shirt and… Continue Reading
It is a very good thing I am not limited to a song a day for without music I wouldnt be happy. I sing in the barn and in the car ,while doing things around the house and yard, pretty near anywhere. I think that is why I was first drawn to the Song-A-Day Music… Continue Reading
Yesterday I drove the winding Boston Turnpike ( Rte 44) which boasts many improvements since George Washington traveled it. Finally turning off to the northeast I headed in the direction of Thompson , Ct. www.thompsonct.org I came up to the green now shaded by the ginat trees and went along one side past the library… Continue Reading
MyLITV.com – The Island Long Riders cowboy mounted shooting club Long Islands Best Videos Politics and Local News Here is a great look at what I do a lot of announcing for. There is a tiny segment where you can hear me. This is a great sport filled with great people. Will be back out… Continue Reading
Aetna, of Hartford, Ct., the insurance giant, has a huge auditorium at the home office. Yesterday ( Saturday May 8, 2010) I brought my Connecticut Stories to the Aetna 39 rs, their Retiree Group. The theatre lighting, railed balconies, carpeted main floor and huge stage behind me made for the perfect setting for sharing old… Continue Reading
Friends of Rockville Library ( Ct. ) Turns out these friends are friends in so many ways. We shared a interest in Ct. History when I brought my show of Connecticut Stories to their meeting at Rockville Library on May 6, 2010. Once we had taken care of where cowboys got their look and a… Continue Reading
Storyteller Jay O’Callahan’s play explores NASA’s history – The Boston Globe Posted using ShareThis Continue Reading
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Sky Racers 5/9/09 Carolyn Stearns I went out walking tonight as one storm was chased from the sky on the steeds of another. I paused at the gate to the meadow and watched. There across the western horizon monstrous black clouds mounted and with their golden rims sparkling, went skittering northeast as if in the… Continue Reading
Instant Summer There I was today freezing in the barn. It was 50 degrees but the wind was whipping itself around and in the north door and I was tired and grumpy and cold. Cold that is the word and as I watched the very bubbly and optimistic weather forecast I was amazed, it will… Continue Reading
Keeping up with technology is like a full time job. Continue Reading
March came roaring in like a lion last night. I lay in bed listeneing to the roar. I could hear trees crackle and barn doors creak in the fierce wind and thought about all the animals out in the barn listeneing. It must seem even louder to them. There is a certain comfort in knowing… Continue Reading
Why on earth after creating heaven and earth did mud ever get created. Is mud the after thought or uncalculated by product? I beleive that it was made to humor someone with good boots! They were certainly there watching the day the mud sucked the boot from my foot and left me windmilling my arms… Continue Reading