storytelling

A book I consult on a regular basis is Martha Ballard's diary, by means of the wonderful and important study written by Laurel Thatcher Ulrich:

A Midwife's Tale: The Life of Martha Ballard, Based on Her Diary, 1785-1812
Vintage Books: June 1991
ISBN: 0-679-73376-0
Winner 1991 - Pulitzer Prize

Whenever I fear that I'm losing focus in the novel at hand, Martha reminds me that people were living their lives behind the scenes, mostly untouched by the war and whatever things of great moment might have been happening elsewhere. In February of 1810 she wrote in her diary:

Clear. I have washt, done hous wk and knit. mr Petengail took [ ] our Cow for Taxes. what we are to do God only knows.

In 1812, in the same week:

Cloudy, raind at Evng. I was Calld by Levy Cowen to go and See his wife in Labour. Shee was Safe deld at 4h am of a Son which Expired at 5. Shee had a fall not long Since which probably was the Cause. Hannah & Nabby wint to hear mr Tappin this day & Evng.

The whole diary is available at this website, where you can explore materials about Martha's life and world. It never fails to amaze and teach me something.

Posted by at 6:27 PM | Permalink

... to make a public service announcement. This isn't something I do lightly, please note, but here is a link to materials I have written that might be of use to those persons who are supporting Howard Dean's bid for the Democratic nomination, or who are thinking of supporting him. Or for anybody else who is interested. An excerpt:

We can focus on the issues, or we can let ourselves be caught up in hype and trivialities. We can let the media tell us who is going to win, or we can choose the next president. We can talk to our neighbors about the things that matter most to us - jobs, health care, education, the environment, Iraq - or we can talk to them about polls. We can take the country back, or we can reap the consequences of another four years of Bush's destructive policies at home and abroad. The choice is up to us. It's up to you.

Posted by at 12:56 PM | Permalink

Robyn sent me a poem by Kenneth Fearing (1902-1961) called Love 20¢ the First Quarter Mile. I'm not sure why it struck such a chord with me, but this is the kind of poetry that I love best. The first stanza:

All right. I may have lied to you and about you, and made a 
few pronouncements a bit too sweeping, perhaps, and 
possibly forgotten to tag the bases here or there,
And damned your extravagance, and maligned your tastes, 
and libeled your relatives, and slandered a few of your 
friends, O. K. ,
Nevertheless, come back.

You can read the whole thing here.

Posted by at 10:50 AM | Permalink