A to Z Challenge Begins Today

Quote of the Month:  Open the window in the center of your chest and let the spirits fly in and out. Rumi
(My theme for this year's A to Z Challenge is Open.)

This year, as I was preparing for the A to Z Challenge, several events emerged that sparked new voices in my head. First, we had a Pad Thai and Sock Puppet Night for our Primo Art Spa, where I created the sock puppet characters Willie and Millie. I had not thought about what I'd create until I sat down and started grabbing fabric. That night, we spent some time giving our characters a story. I set them aside until as I was sorting through my sock drawer and some conflicting viewpoints, and I had an epiphany!

Millie and Willie started talking to me, so I'll get out of their way and let them take over the A to Z Challenge. They've been a pair for 45 years and have lived colorful lives. I'll let them tell you how they met.

A = Opening an Account!

Millie and Willie Cottonpoly

 

Millie: I was working at the First State Bank of Worthington.

 

Willie: I just got my first paycheck from Burlington Northern Railway and went to open an account. (starts humming, I've been working on the railroad)

 

Millie: It was July 5, 1967.

 

Willie: You were blushing like a school girl.

 

Millie: I was sunburned. My girlfriends and I had covered ourselves in baby oil and laid out on the window ledge all day until the fireworks display to celebrate our nation's Independence Day.

 

Willie: The sunburn got suddenly darker when I asked for her phone number. (Millie shoots him a look)

 

Millie: He was very forward. I didn't know what kind of fellow he was, so I said No.

 

Willie: The next day I came back in with my coffee can filled with coins. I stood there admiring her gorgeous, strong limbs as she counted out all 243 dollars. (chuckles)

 

Millie: I hated counting out coins. They have machines to do it, now. It was a putzy job. I was cursing him out in my head the whole time.

 

Willie: (chuckles)

 

Millie: When I was done, I handed him his bills, shut my window, and took my coffee break. I thought that was a clear message that I didn't want anything to do with him.

 

Willie: (chuckle) Luckily, I'm clueless that way.

 

Millie: The next day, I saw him walking in the door, so I took my time with Mr. Landry, thinking he'd go to another girl's window.

 

Willie:  I was patient. I just held back, slowly filled out my deposit slip, and when Mr. Landry walked away, I slid right up to her window and grabbed the money out of my pocket.

 

Millie: The 243 dollars in the exact same bills that I'd counted out for him the day before. I was about to tell him to go make his deposit at some other window...

 

Willie: But, my Hot Tamales caught her eye. (eyebrows waggle up and down)

 

Millie: Willie!

 

Willie:  (chuckles) I'd picked up the candy on my route to Minneapolis the week before. I saw that she was eyeing them, so I opened the box and offered her one.

 

Millie:  I put one in my mouth and my tongue was on fire.

 

Willie: She couldn't talk for a few minutes, so I took the opportunity to tell her a little about myself and that I would be honored if she'd accompany me to the movies on Saturday night. I brought a fresh box of Hot Tamales, and the rest is history.

 

Millie: What can I say? I was craving a little spice in my life. (blushes like a sunburned school girl)

***********************

Keep coming back to Play off the Page to read more of Millie and Willie's spicy adventures!

Happy Birthday Arlee Bird, the brilliant blogger who started the A to Z Challenge in 2010! What a riot. It's like a big blog party. I hope you enjoy your day and this year's challenge.

I hope all of you enjoy getting to know Millie and Willie Cottonpoly. They can be a hoot. That's for sure.

Go. Create. Inspire!

Journaling Prompt:  Tell the story of how you met a special friend.

A is for Accent

The Quote of the Day that inspired my A to Z Challenge theme -
A Word for the Day that takes on many meanings.

Quote of the Day: A writer lives in awe of words for they can be cruel or kind, and they can change their meanings right in front of you. They pick up flavors and odors like butter in a refrigerator. John Steinbeck

Word of the Day: Accent

I found 11 definitions for accent as a noun, and two as a verb. I'd like to put the accent on this one: the characteristic mode of pronunciation of a person or group, especially one that betrays social or geographical origin.

The United States of America is filled with a variety of accents. I have a distinct Mid-Western accent, don't ya know. I say "Uff-da" and sometimes end my sentences with "then." I lived in Grand Forks, ND for a while, which is a short ice chunk ride up the river to Canada where they say "eh" and sweep their leaves to the "berm." I don't know a West Texas accent from one from Georgia, but I'll bet the Southern folks do.

Most American women tend to swoon over the French accent. The Oscars were vocally sexy this year with so many wins for The Artist (a movie I loved, by the way). When Jean Dujardin speaks just two words as George Valentin, "Weeth pleasure," I nearly swooned in my theatre seat.

Not all accents are so well received by Americans. When we call a technical service line and the guy on the other end has a Middle Eastern accent, our frustration level increases. Not only do we not speak the techie talk, but now we can barely understand basic instructions like, "First make sure the computer is turned on." Although they're saying all the right words in the right order, the accent is on the "wrong" syllable and the cadence of the sentence ees off.

We can feel a sense of danger from certain accents. Some people are quickly labeled for their accent. We can also feel helpless when we need the information from a doctor or professor, but the words don't come out clear. The best we can do here is to ask for them to write it down.

Go. Create. Inspire!
Journaling Prompt:  Do you judge people by their accent? Have you ever been judged? Frustrated by it? Stopped going somewhere because the accent got in the way of communication?

A is for Aalgaard

Letter of the Day:  A
A is for Actor, those wonderful creators with interesting voices and expressive faces and bodies that pull the words off the page and breath life into the characters.  I've always loved acting.

A is for Aalgaard, my last name.  Whenever I spell it out loud to a new person they say, "Wow, that's a lot of A's."  I say, "Yes, I get all the A's in the box."  The double A is an English spelling of the name that originates in Norway.  My brother James will explain a bit more.  I come from a family of writers and wanderers.  Words and music have been our greatest connectors.  James also has a blog called the Wandering Norwegian, which he posts on whenever the spirit moves him, which isn't often.  James is a Lutheran Pastor living in Ontario, Oregon with his family. Here's his story:

Ålgård is a place that has given us a family name: Aalgaard. There's a stream that courses through this little country community in Southern Norway. When I was there for a short visit in 2009, I asked what the stream is called. No one could tell me! The surrounding lakes had names, but for some reason the stream did not.


It's difficult to find a flat patch of ground on Ålgård. The mountains and hills have been rounded by time. Berries, wild flowers and grasses are abundant, and many of the the people who live there can say this has been their home at least seven or eight generations! That's what you call having deep roots!

I learned firsthand how much it can rain over there! We spent a day hiking around those hills, seeing other places that were also part of my family's history. The grasses were tall and the trail sometimes unclear. It was pouring rain all day, and when it was time for me to take off my borrowed rain boots, I turned one upside down, out came a few CUPS of water! All I can say is I had very clean feet for the rest of the day.

It means a great deal to me that there is a place called Ålgård, and that I can trace family back so many generations. What's especially meaningful is that our relatives welcome us for visits any time. There has been a renewal of those friendships recently, and I see that as a blessing!

This past summer my sister Joy, neice Holly, and Marlin (relative who lives in Norway who might be a second cousin once removed, or something like that), climbed the hill above Ålgård for the traditional family shot.  My parents have a similarly posed picture hanging in their house with my dad and two of his siblings.

When I was there, 23 years ago, as a young college student, it was a quick stop, minus this hike and photo.  All I remember is that when we pulled up, my great uncle Carl was in his bee keeping gear, and just as we stepped out of the car, he got stung!  We had a communication barrier, so he sat and talked to my dad's cousin while my friends and I just wandered around.  When we got to my great aunt Signe's house in town, I walked in the door and immediately had the sense of coming home.

Thanks, James for writing a guest post on my blog today.  Thanks, family for staying connected and sharing your stories and passing along these great gifts!

Go. Create. Inspire!

Journaling Prompt:  Where do your roots lead back to? What gifts, talents, and traditions have been passed from generation to generation?