A return to innocence

The eight spoonful of honey was a sweet affair.

Eleven of us gathered in Extempore Studio and Gallery at 60 Kensington Ave.
We gathered around the hummingbird candle like a fire pit and we listened to some sweet sweet folk music. Bob Snider graced us with his singing voice and strumming fingers. We traveled from his childhood haunts to adult views. From one side of the country to the other. Protest songs and love letters, goofy ditties and serious meditations, fall songs and spring songs, end of love and personal confessions. It was an evening of storytelling in tune to the magical sounds of guitar strings. Bob Snider is most certainly a national treasure. Thank you for blessing us with your melodies and true confessions. We giggled and we cried.

The lovely and fabulous Becky Johnson gifted us with six of her very own paper mache masks. This was a wonderful follow up to Erin Bouvey's clown circle. Becky and Erin are old clown buddies. Two weeks prior Erin told us about the six masks she made as she created her own mythology. They made their masks with their eyes closed.
Becky has a lot of stuff. Being in mood to purge and having courage to let go Becky came to the circle and gave away her masks. Good work Becky! The masks now have six new homes.

We also celebrated Ron Cooks' Birth Day! Cake and candles too! Happy Birth day circle supporter!

Upon reflection I feel that this circle is about the return to innocence. Perhaps every circle is about the return to innocence. I felt it and when Terrence said "Your songs make me feel like a child again." I had to agree. Bob Snider's songs do have the power to bring you back to the good days of grass stains and rosy cheeks. Outside until the sun goes down. "hazel bedtime!"...as my mother calls me in after an evening of bike riding and tag. Toys in the yard and chalk on the street. The small pleasures add up. A warm spring breeze, a sunny spot protected from the wind, cookies, a trip to the corner store, lying under a cherry blossom tree, honey on a spoon, a good story, a good laugh, a long and loud stretch, a nap on the beach, and the list goes on. Can you remember a simple pleasure? add it to the list and watch them add up. To have pleasure is to have presence. To have presence is to have life. This is the moment. You are beautiful. And life is sweet.
Thank you for joining us.

A Spoonful of Honey Storytelling circle April 6, 2009
Presents our oldest Elder
Stanley Grizzle
“No ordinary man,” profile of Judge Stanley Grizzle for Via Rail Magazine

A glance at Judge Stanley G. Grizzle’s shoes reveals an impressive shine. This pair happens to be smooth patent leather, but every pair he owns looks almost as glossy. It’s a habit; as a sleeping car porter back in the days of steam trains and gentlemen in soft fedoras, he guesses he shined thousands of shoes.

Now 93 years old and a judge—he was appointed to the Court of Canadian Citizenship in 1978—His Honour admits that he still owns the shoeshine kit he bought when he joined Canadian Pacific Railroad in 1940, at the age of 22. Jobs were scarce, and in those days railroads were among the few places hiring blacks. “Porters were well respected and looked up to by many in the community because they had steady employment,” Grizzle recalls in his book, My Name’s Not George: The Story of the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters in Canada.

For 20 years, Grizzle made up and put away the berths that typically lined either side of the sleeping-car passageway (usually 12 upper and 12 lower), and also looked after up to three more pampered passengers secluded in a private compartment. While passengers slept, he shined the shoes left under the lower berth, kept the washrooms clean and stocked with towels, mopped floors and emptied spittoons in the men’s smoking room at the end of the car.

“We needed a strong back, a sense of humour and the ability to get by with little or no sleep,” Grizzle remembers. “But the wages were steady, albeit low, and we had a chance to travel. We were busy, no question, but there was always time to ooh and aah over beautiful scenery!”

don't miss the next circle!

a taste of honey