Tuesday, July 24, 2018

On the road again

I'm road-weary this evening. The interviews I'd been trying to schedule for weeks all came together...today.

It's been so hard scheduling them that I didn't want to try to find time on our calendars to reschedule, so I put my big boy panties on and hit the road.

There was a city council meeting at 9 that turned out to be a non-event because they didn't have a quorum. They had sick folks and others who were vacating. 

After this, I got an update from the chief on a young man that's been missing since February. 

The local library had a fun day that was the finale of the summer reading program for kids. There were about 50 kids in the park swing, climbing, and wooshing down a water slide. The smiles almost broke the lens on my camera.

Next was an interview with a man who's documented all the cemeteries in the county. The county is fairly small as counties go, but he's documented 343 cemeteries here so far. Some of them predate the Civil War.  We stood on the hill at Davis Cemetery. There was a shady spot that was about 15 feet from where my parents are buried. We sat on the tailgate of my truck and talked for over an hour about cemeteries. He looked around and pointed off into the distance and said, "There's a story in every grave." 

The last interview was with a woman that works with the Girls Rock program. They take about 30 girls between the ages of 9-16 and teach them to play an instrument. They learn to play drums, guitar, bass, or keyboard. They also write a song that they perform at the end of the week. 

The finale is a showcase at a local venue. The girls get full makeup, new hairstyles if they want them, and the works. When they walk out onto that stage, they are rockstars.

One young girl told this woman a few years ago after she completed a week of rockschool, that the program had saved her life. That put chills on my arm.

So, today has been a great day. I do need to take these interviews and write stories.

One of my features ran this morning. The link below will take you to the short piece on the Taira Lady who is a greeter at Walmart. So far, it's been shared 367 times. There's an icon at the bottom that will allow you to share it on Facebook. If you would like to spread some good news instead of doom and gloom, it would do my heart good :)

Taira Lady



13 comments:

  1. It was a busy day but it sounds like you got some good stories. Now I'm off to read about the Tiara Lady.

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  2. Oh, (swear word) the Device from Hell won't recognise the link...
    Anyway, Marlene looks wonderful; tiara, glasses and earrings.
    And the cemetery stories will be worth hearing about, I'm sure.
    Hint. Hint.
    Alphie

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  3. Sadly my system tells me it is an unsafe site and will not allow me access.
    Congratulations on getting the start on LOTS of fascinating stories.

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  4. First time I've tried to add something to my facebook page - it worked! Thanks Rick for sharing your snippets of all your interviews today.
    Joy

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  5. Hah! I persevered and the link worked. Hurrah!
    Alphie

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  6. This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

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  7. I do love Walmart greeters the are a treasure and this one is priceless ! Has to be the icing on the cake of a busy day for sure !

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  8. You've been really busy when most people your age is slowing down. I read the Tiara Queen article. She very popular with the customers. You should have a lot of writing to do now with all the interviews you had.
    Hugs, Julia

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  9. I'm tired now. I guess I should take a nap! Sounds Busier 'n a bee! I know the associated articles will be good. I like the cemetery guy. Any way people are interested because not only every grave is a story but EVERYONE walking is a story, and you know how to draw them out! Good stuff.

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  10. I am from a small county in Illinois where old dilapidated cemeteries are being restored. "There's a story in every grave." So true.

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  11. Your tiara lady is the kind of people who make me happy to live in Alabama! If this part-time gig doesn't work out maybe I'll buy me a tiara and try making good folks people smile.....

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  12. I love wondering around cemeteries but I am strange, you have had a busy time of it

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  13. Anonymous10:56 PM

    I'm in love with the Tiara Lady!!

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