“Connection and relationship are cherries atop the hot fudge sundaes of life”! ~Gail Boenning
Not only quote worthy, but refrigerator worthy!
Austin Kleon writes about the concept of refrigerator worthy ideas and how refrigerators went through a redesign when they lost their ability to host magnets that held up “refrigerator worthy” elements of art and stories, and sometimes even, report cards!
Those who know me well also know how strongly I believe that “stories are the currency of connection.”
Let’s focus for a moment on the story Typist just shared with us about her encounter at the park as an example… Or instead, we could review Margaret’s post. No? Ok, how about Gary’s story instead?
“As a child, a local dairy delivered milk, ice cream, and other dairy products to our door twice a week. Placed in the “milk box” on the front porch. They also operated a dairy shop in a nearby town. Their grandissimo offering was a banana split on steroids! If the buyer could finish it solo, they won another. The Joey Chestnut of banana splits.” ~Gary’s Childhood Story
I could go on, but by now you surely agree that, “Stories are the currency of Connection!”
I LOVE this blog, Typist, the Girl’s, and all of you and your stories…
This community, this ongoing experience, are jewels for my heart! “Stories are the currency of connection” indeed. Thank you Bobby for articulating this so well.
Wonderful that you met the young man's mom and their furry while you were out. I remember one day my husband came home and told me he had ran across someone from home. He said it was "old man Crump's son." We were living in Germany at the time. Crump Road runs off the road my folks lived on in Alanson, MI. After my husband retired from the army he went on to teach JROTC in Zachary, LA. I used to help out all the time when they needed chaperones, uniforms mended etc. I even cooked for them when they had a booth at the Relay For Life events the school hosted. I have people coming up all the time to ask if I was Mrs. Sarge. I don't remember them all but they remember him and me. We always tried to teach our kids to be kind and courteous to everybody. You don't want to be remembered for being a grump and mean.
If I hadn't read the coffee brewing intro, I would have thought it was a rotary phone dialing the same number. The audio quality is good just my brain wasn't ready for it. Maybe I need more coffee.
Hot fudge sundaes are hard to beat! My absolute fave was butterscotch topping. As a child, a local dairy delivered milk, ice cream, and other dairy products to our door twice a week. Placed in the “milk box” on the front porch. They also operated a dairy shop in a nearby town. Their grandissimo offering was a banana split on steroids! If the buyer could finish it solo, they won another. The Joey Chestnut of banana splits. 🤔
With all the influences from the Muses - impetuousness, deliberation, and harmony - I can still imagine occasional tugs of war in setting an agreed upon course!🙃
Your experimentation with sound, recording of which is fascinating by itself, opens up some possibilities. Is it possible to record from a setting with bird voices from bushes or trees nearby, while you simultaneously voice remarks on your c journey? Or your observations on being human? Aware? Kind?
For me, having your various mediums of expression would feel overwhelming! A struggle to use them all for best effect, while wanting to appear accomplished in all?!
Have you ever produced self-portraits, er, Muse portraits, in your artistic skill development? I could picture offering portraits of Cal, Nia, and Tal in richer detail by way of introduction for the book. That would not preclude ongoing use of the simpler sketch representations of the Triumphant Threesome at other points?!
Dip your toe in the current flow, and feel the flow of time. World without end.
I grew up in the days of families with single bread winners (dads) and stay at home homemakers (moms). Thus the ice cream (in 2-gallon tubs!) went into outstretched arms. Then the “milkman” got the empty glass from the milk box and returned with full containers. Back in the day...
My kid inherited my love of ice cream! In two weeks he heads back to school and the freezer section of the local grocery will not have to restock as often. 😂
I still have questions about this milk box! It was just a place where the milkman could leave dairy products if nobody was home?
A plain, non-ornamental box with a hinged lid. It doubled as a place to sit atop the box while removing galoshes during periods of spring thaw or heavy rain. Deliveries were mid morning and the box lived in shade until late afternoon. Uninsulated. Ice cream had to be ordered (milk was a set number of bottles) so the date it would come was known. Mom planned accordingly and in summer my brother and I gladly helped prevent ice cream meltdown!
“Connection and relationship are cherries atop the hot fudge sundaes of life”! ~Gail Boenning
Not only quote worthy, but refrigerator worthy!
Austin Kleon writes about the concept of refrigerator worthy ideas and how refrigerators went through a redesign when they lost their ability to host magnets that held up “refrigerator worthy” elements of art and stories, and sometimes even, report cards!
Those who know me well also know how strongly I believe that “stories are the currency of connection.”
Let’s focus for a moment on the story Typist just shared with us about her encounter at the park as an example… Or instead, we could review Margaret’s post. No? Ok, how about Gary’s story instead?
“As a child, a local dairy delivered milk, ice cream, and other dairy products to our door twice a week. Placed in the “milk box” on the front porch. They also operated a dairy shop in a nearby town. Their grandissimo offering was a banana split on steroids! If the buyer could finish it solo, they won another. The Joey Chestnut of banana splits.” ~Gary’s Childhood Story
I could go on, but by now you surely agree that, “Stories are the currency of Connection!”
I LOVE this blog, Typist, the Girl’s, and all of you and your stories…
In Gratitude,
Bobby Kountz, TheEarthHeARTist 🎨💛🎨
Thank you Bobby! I LOVE this blog, too. As Charlotte said of her egg sack… It is my magnum opus — life’s work.
Your appreciation is received with much gratitude.
This community, this ongoing experience, are jewels for my heart! “Stories are the currency of connection” indeed. Thank you Bobby for articulating this so well.
🙏🏼🕊🙏🏼
Wonderful that you met the young man's mom and their furry while you were out. I remember one day my husband came home and told me he had ran across someone from home. He said it was "old man Crump's son." We were living in Germany at the time. Crump Road runs off the road my folks lived on in Alanson, MI. After my husband retired from the army he went on to teach JROTC in Zachary, LA. I used to help out all the time when they needed chaperones, uniforms mended etc. I even cooked for them when they had a booth at the Relay For Life events the school hosted. I have people coming up all the time to ask if I was Mrs. Sarge. I don't remember them all but they remember him and me. We always tried to teach our kids to be kind and courteous to everybody. You don't want to be remembered for being a grump and mean.
My father always modeled outgoing/talkative behavior. For a long time, with my introverted personality, I figured it skipped a generation. 😂
Turns out it didn’t… and we can always learn new ways of being if we want to.
Mrs. Sarge — that’s great!
A hot fudge sundae - of all the things not to cross the Atlantic. 😔 But I love the cherry on top analogy Gail. 🍒
Nope, not here 😟
Huh… If so inclined, you could make them for the grandkids! Vanilla ice cream, hot fudge sauce, salted pecans, and a cherry on top. 🤗
What? Are hot fudge sundaes not on Irish dessert menus?
There is a historical marker in the town I grew up in proclaiming it is the “birthplace of the ice cream sundae.”
https://www.roadsideamerica.com/story/11967
Button: “Tell someone there are 9.7 million stars in the sky, and they’ll believe you. Tell them the paint is wet, and they need to touch it.” 😁
I'm with DW Andrews on the rotary phone ID! I had to listen twice before I could "see" it!
Haha! When I had a friend visit last week, she was perplexed as to what was making “that rolling sound.”
If I hadn't read the coffee brewing intro, I would have thought it was a rotary phone dialing the same number. The audio quality is good just my brain wasn't ready for it. Maybe I need more coffee.
A rotary phone! I haven’t seen one in years.
Mostly I’m trying to figure out how to create audio files and then upload them.
Day 1: I played music from YouTube into the Substack “record” feature. The quality was poor.
Day 2: I revised from my phone and downloaded to Dropbox, then uploaded to Substack.
This is better than Suduko or Wordle for my brain!
I'm with you about the sound, DW; I had to listen twice before I could "see" it!
Hot fudge sundaes are hard to beat! My absolute fave was butterscotch topping. As a child, a local dairy delivered milk, ice cream, and other dairy products to our door twice a week. Placed in the “milk box” on the front porch. They also operated a dairy shop in a nearby town. Their grandissimo offering was a banana split on steroids! If the buyer could finish it solo, they won another. The Joey Chestnut of banana splits. 🤔
With all the influences from the Muses - impetuousness, deliberation, and harmony - I can still imagine occasional tugs of war in setting an agreed upon course!🙃
Your experimentation with sound, recording of which is fascinating by itself, opens up some possibilities. Is it possible to record from a setting with bird voices from bushes or trees nearby, while you simultaneously voice remarks on your c journey? Or your observations on being human? Aware? Kind?
For me, having your various mediums of expression would feel overwhelming! A struggle to use them all for best effect, while wanting to appear accomplished in all?!
Have you ever produced self-portraits, er, Muse portraits, in your artistic skill development? I could picture offering portraits of Cal, Nia, and Tal in richer detail by way of introduction for the book. That would not preclude ongoing use of the simpler sketch representations of the Triumphant Threesome at other points?!
Dip your toe in the current flow, and feel the flow of time. World without end.
I always loved butterscotch, too!
Was the milk box cold? How did the ice cream stay frozen?
Drawing-wise, I’m still avoiding faces. I’m not sure yet if the muses role in the next book — still waiting for inspiration on that.
I grew up in the days of families with single bread winners (dads) and stay at home homemakers (moms). Thus the ice cream (in 2-gallon tubs!) went into outstretched arms. Then the “milkman” got the empty glass from the milk box and returned with full containers. Back in the day...
My kid inherited my love of ice cream! In two weeks he heads back to school and the freezer section of the local grocery will not have to restock as often. 😂
I still have questions about this milk box! It was just a place where the milkman could leave dairy products if nobody was home?
I’ll have to ask my dad if he had one.
A plain, non-ornamental box with a hinged lid. It doubled as a place to sit atop the box while removing galoshes during periods of spring thaw or heavy rain. Deliveries were mid morning and the box lived in shade until late afternoon. Uninsulated. Ice cream had to be ordered (milk was a set number of bottles) so the date it would come was known. Mom planned accordingly and in summer my brother and I gladly helped prevent ice cream meltdown!