Lee Porteous’ Chinese tale, “The Living Queen,” showed virtue rewarded by the Goddess Kuan Yin and along the way turned a snake into a dragon, a mute girl into a wife and a seeker who had relinquished his right to 3 questions into a rich and happy man.
A youthful Stephen Yeager brought skill and poise to his story, ”The Great Delivery,” in which a pompous dentist receives 2 magic figs in payment for his services and “goes to the dogs” as a result.
Jan Hockin’s yarn, “The Muckle Muckle Stone," was muckle indeed. The Scottish tale moved from digging a simple well to the king’s entire court trying to unearth the precious stone against the warnings of their wise man that “it will destroy them” and being banished for his trouble – muckle trouble.
A picture book entitled, “Sylvester and the Magic Donkey,” was Victoria Cownden’s source and she brought along the pretty red stone that created the magic that granted wishes if only you held it in your hand – or at least touched it closely.
Recently returned from the Yellowknife Storytellers’ Conference, Patricia Houston waxed eloquent about the special feelings evoked by stories told by First Nations and Inuit tellers. Patricia shareed several small vignettes including the poignant scene of an old man turning to meet a large bear to kiss it goodbye before leaving the village for a care home.
“That’s the way it was meant to be!” was Shirley Rutliffe’s comment looking back to her days with the Saint John’s Ambulance service when an unwanted shift in her service station produced a very personal meeting with Queen Elizabeth and Prince Phillip.
“A Patchwork Quilt” was the title Al Fowler gave to his reminiscences of his days as a young pastor in New Brunswick. Describing both land and people with loving detail, his description of quilt making was itself a patchwork quilt of the old days.
Using “The Other Way to Listen” by Byrd Taylor and Peter Parnall as a source, and her own melodious voice, Michelle Hibbins invited her listeners to move beyond what everyone hears and tune into the trees and flowers to hear their songs. Michelle added that as she was singing to the hills, the hills were singing to her. Michelle plans to share this story again at the Theartre SKAM Bike Ride along the Galloping Goose Trail on Saturday July 16 from 3:30 to 8:30 p.m.
Prepared by Anne Forester
Photo of Diane Gilliland by Penny Tennenhouse
