Weekend Adventure:Oh the Stories We've Come Home With

We are home again, worn out and happy.

We both needed a break. It seems like we have been on the go almost constantly since April--all good things, for sure, and for that I feel blessed. But it was time for the two of us to do something just for the fun of it. And, as usually happens, we found stories all along the way.

photo by Thomas Burnett's wife Charlie. From left, storytellers Thomas Burnett, Mike Kubisek, me, JoAnn Dadisman in back, and Judi Tarowsky.

We started with the annual storytelling event "Tellabration" in Morgantown, WV as part of WVU's Mountaineer Week festivities. Five storytellers, including me, came to Elizabeth Moore Hall on the WVU campus to share tales around the theme of "Our Story." I settled on immigration stories, since the story of the United States cannot be told--indeed. would not have happened at all--without the immigrants who came to settle and build the country we know today.

I've been working on the story of a German stonemason who fell to his death while building our local courthouse. Prior to leaving for Morgantown, I recorded an interview about this immigrant for a video being made to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the courthouse.

Inside the bell tower, way up there on  top of the courthouse. It was so interesting to go up there--narrow steep stairs, old wood, the bell, and the back side of the clocks. So cool.

So the story of the stonemanson was on my mind, and is such a good example of the thousands of forgotten immigrants who came, built, and died making this country we call the United States.

My second story was more personal, a story about my mother and her first real home here, and how I got into trouble one day while she was having a little party. My friends, I'll just say that no mother ever will be happy with you for putting your foot in the toilet.

We left Morgantown for North Bend State Park. It is quite close to us, only 90 minutes or so away, but surprisingly we have never really explored it. We planned to stay for two nights in the lodge rather than a cabin, because as I told friends, we live in a cabin, but a lodge, with restaurant, TV, etc would be a treat for us! WV Parks are offering a special for veterans until November 15th of 50% on your stay, so it was a great deal. (There is another special for 50% off too--check the parks' website for details.) By the time we got there, it was nearly dark, and we were tired enough to just settle into our room.

The next day brought all kinds of surprises. The photo at the top of this post is just one of them. I'll write more about it tomorrow.

For now, we're unpacking and catching up on all the things that were waiting for our return. But we're both still smiling. And we both want to go back to North Bend again to see what other adventures await.



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