The Middle of Somewhere

How often have we said a certain place is “in the middle of nowhere”? When we use that term we are generally talking about a very rural area. I have visited several schools in the process marketing my book I Can’t See, But…I Can Imagine. During my visit with the kids, I attempt to help them understand that writing is an adventure they might enjoy. I want them to know they can live anywhere and be a successful author. I love to visit schools ‘out in the country’. Recently I took my presentation to a place I considered to be in the “middle of nowhere” but to my pleasant surprise it was in the “middle of somewhere”!
Fort Rock, Christmas Valley, and Silver Lake are three small towns in southeast Oregon… high desert country. The school I visited was North Lake School. The towns have pooled their resources and build a school that was every bit as nice as any of the 44 schools I have visited! The camaraderie between the children and teachers is something to see. We found everyone to be very friendly. They are proud of their little towns and the school. They have a writers group, a thespian group and many volunteer in the school to help coach sports, etc. Hearing some of the stories I learned about their rich history. There are huge hay ranches all over that country with modern pivot irritation everywhere. A person cannot learn much about that area just driving through. It is worth staying a spell….and learning what a town in the ‘middle of somewhere’ is like.

Visually Impaired Imagination

My visit to Ochoco Elementary last week was great fun. The children were thrilled when they learned that their very own music teacher, Blaine Cameron, is actually one of the vocalists on the CD accompanying the book. He played the Big Frog in “The Frog Song”. Blaine actually was one of the talented people instrumental helping produce all of my grandmother’s music. She did a good job in 1949 getting her songs on 78rpm records, but today’s technology did the magic!

During the presentation, there was a darling little girl about age ten who came up to closely see my big picture displays. The teacher told me that she is seriously visually impaired. She has had surgery on one eye at Oregon Health Sciences University in Portland and she will have the other eye done very soon. I put my arm around her and whispered in her ear that I am sending her something special. Today I sent my book I “Can’t See, But….I Can Imagine” and signed it “May my grandmother be your inspiration! Happy Imagining! God Bless You! Patricia Bennett Wilson .” She may have trouble seeing the colorful illustrations, but the entire book (words and music) is on the CD. She will love that! Perhaps her imagination will make the illustrations even more wonderful!

FAMILY READING CARNIVAL

One of the most rewarding things I have done while marketing my book “I Can’t See, But…I Can Imagine” is visit schools and encourage children from kindergarten through 5th grade to love to write. My goal is for the kids to consider their own roots in their writing. I tell them the ‘family story’ behind my book with the idea they have their own stories….and can add their own imagination, as I did. Always they are divided into similar age groups so that it is possible to gear my visit to the particular age, teaching the older children the steps it takes to actually create, publish and market a book. The original illustrations, by Sharon Bean, are with me for them to see. The kids love that!

I have been to 42 schools so far, and this week will be my 43th. I will visit Ochoco Elementary School in Prineville, Oregon. Monday evening March 2nd I am taking part in a delightful Family Reading Carnival and Wednesday, March 4th I will be talking to all of the elementary children. Great fun!

Yummies From The Basement

Somehow Christmas reminds me of my blind grandmother, Persis Beach Bennett, and the narrow stairs that went down to the basement. Her biggest oven was at bottom of the stairs. She would cook the best stuff down there –at Christmas, the Christmas Turkey. She seemed to go up and down the stairs many times just to baste the bird. Raspberry steamed pudding came up from those stairs too. The stairs were quite dark. I always felt it was a little spooky going down there and the darkness scared me as a child. That didn’t matter to Grammie, however. She couldn’t see anyway. Most children were watching for Santa to come from the chimney. I was watching for Grammie to come out of the basement.

Eagle Crest Resort

Eagle Crest Resort (Redmond, OR) has asked me four years in a row to join them when Santa is there. Every weekend, from Thanksgiving to Christmas, Eagle Crest has a wagon with big draft horses to go through all the delightful Christmas light displays. The children are delighted with the entire spectacle. Parents and grandparents are there with the children and often purchase “I Can’t See, But….I Can Imagine” adding to excitement and pleasing the kids. I will be there every Friday and Saturday evening until Christmas – with Santa and the beautiful horses, of course.

Booking A Lunch

This last weekend – 3 days including Friday -- we were at the Holiday food and Gift Festival signing and selling books, CDs, Prints, and T-shirts. It was great fun. One woman came up to us and said she bought a book a few weeks ago. She is in her late s 70’s and does not have any children. She said she invited 15 neighborhood children, ten and under, for lunch and shared the book and CD. “They absolutely loved it!” She said, “They stayed at my house until 4:30! I felt like I had opened a new orphanage.”

Kentucky Radio Interview

Today was truly a special day. I received an email from Michael McCarty, the President of the Kentucky Council of the Blind (www.kentucky-acb.org). He has Sound Prints, a weekly radio show heard on WKJK Talk Radio 1080 in Louisville, Kentucky. His program is heard Wednesday nights at 6:00 PM Central and then goes to ACB Radio (www.acbradio.org) where it is listened to by a world-wide audience on their Main Stream channel. He said, “I would love to have you on my radio show to talk about your book.” I called him this morning and this afternoon he interviewed me (by phone) on the radio. My book I Can’t See, But …I Can Imagine is perfect for anyone who knows or is related to a blind person, because it is a fun, positive person about a blind grandmother. I told Michael during the interview that my grandmother, Persis Beach Bennett, considered blindness simply an inconvenience. I’m certain she had her bad moments, but to this granddaughter; she was a kick in the pants. She was a ton of fun.