BZ’s Honey Drops
Where Does A Teller’s Tale Begin?
Or are we all just a thread in the largest tapestry ever? Perhaps all stories have all been simply woven together through time and space to unite us through this common experience called life.
The teller’s call to weave ourselves into the story reaches us just that way, doesn’t it? Something deep inside yearning to explain and entertain the world around. If you’re lucky, you’ll cross another teller who is willing to share a secret or two.
Needless to say…the story will unfold with or without you…
Lisette and long time storytelling mentor and VERY DEAR FRIEND, BZ Smith chipping away at one of many projects!
None of us grow up thinking…”when I grow up, I want to be a storyteller!”
Most of want to be doctors, firefighters, teachers, etc. I was no exception.
Until I heard the first story BZ ever told me…I can’t really say I remember it that vividly. I can say that from that moment on there wasn’t a time in my life that her voice wasn’t ringing in my head or that my heart wasn’t craving more of the wild adventure her imagination always seemed to take us on.
I would sit there enraptured as she gestured and gesticulated wildly. Her voice rising like the tide and falling like the wind. Eyes shining like diamonds one minute with excitement and glistening with fear or antipation in the next.
It was as if she was holding my hand and saying…
“This way! It’s more fun over here! Look! Over there! A treasure! What’s that?! Look out!” ”
You couldn’t help but follow!
Well, I have been following her for close to 40 years now and it has made my story all the richer.
Did I become a doctor, a teacher, or a firefighter?
NO. I became a storyteller. Because she wove me into the tapestry of our existence and I am honored to help carry it on.
Well, Tan my Hide and call me BZ!
While on her adventures, BZ was able to go out and also spend several days learning traditional Wyandotte Native practices, such as porcupine quill work (a distinct type of embroidery, predating European contact when colorful glass beads arrived on Turtle Island), Ash basket weaving, and leather tanning.
The meticulously designed and cut hide scraping tool made from bone. Nothing left unused!
This is the new homeland where Wyandotte roots are firmly planted. A branch of the Wyandot Nation that had been living in Kansas for a short while was moved to northeastern Oklahoma Indian Territory in the mid-1800’s. Among them were both Walkers and Zanes, BZ’s maternal ancestors.
Great-Nephew Rane Wilson scraping his hide at the fencepost. Other Wyandotte men work alongside him.
“This is how community is built…this kind of work needs a village.” Tanning a deer hide is an all hands on deck practice and all must be willing. During the four days they processed their hides, the group was able to find moments of true connectedness by way of story, song, and language.
Working together to pull and stretch the hide
“We all had a sense of purpose and felt it working together.”
Quill you be Mine?
As we mentioned in the last post, BZ and crew attended several workshops learning traditional Wyandotte Native practices. Here we will dig a little deeper into porcupine quill work (a distinct type of embroidery, predating European contact when colorful glass beads arrived on Turtle Island) and Ash basket weaving.
Quills awaiting weaving!
This intricate work is done by taking porcupine quills that have been dyed and then weaving them on the loom in intricate patterns; some traditional and some unique based on the quiller’s skill and intention.
Great-Nephew Rane Wilson weaving his bracelet
This style of porcupine quill work is done on a loom. Most of the time, the finished product is then sewn onto a heavy fabric such as leather, wool, or felt.
Niece Justine takes a hand at porcupine quill work!
The creation of the quill design is just one step in the lengthy process that leads to the beautiful finished product. This kind of work is often used on bracelets, clothing adornment, and hat bands.
BZ watching a live demonstration of traditional Quilling practices
Next, they turned their attention to Ash basket weaving. In order to learn this practice, the group began with flat reed basket weaving. More skilled basket weavers advance to split Ash (which is composed of thick layers of Ash trunk) making it much more sturdy and therefore requiring more skill to manipulate.
BZ’s Ash basket weaving pre-stained; Justine weaving in the background.
Here is the best part!
The only way BZ could get her basket home was to go out and buy a new suitcase! TALK ABOUT A GOOD TRIP! After spending 6 days immersed in Wyandotte traditional ways, she simply said…
BZ’s Ash basket: Final product stained and in use!
“My basket is full. ”
Going “Home” again
Traveling to tell the story of the Conley Sisters led BZ to many places, one of which was an ancestral home where her origins begin.
Walker House: Built 1870’s
This is the home where her great great grandparents once lived and raised their family. The home that would be the springboard for the fountain of stories and tales we hear today. The family that would create the values and ethics of a human we all know and love so dearly.
This cabinet belonged to Mary Williams Walker, BZ’s Great Great Grandmother. It is located in the kitchen where BZ’s mother, Betty Zane Walker Smith was born.
Can you imagine what simple treasures and goodies this cabinet held? Midnight chats with tins of butter cookies or a cherished book with a secret letter pressed between the pages?
The cistern that claimed her Great Great Grandfather, Isaiah P. Walker. Looking down the cistern is one of BZ’s Walker cousins, Malinda Walker.
But we often forget that houses have stories too. That they hold secrets and tales. Some joyous and some sad. Some comical and some unbelievable…
An Adventure of the Heart
And she’s off and buzzing once more!
Omakyehstih Collective flying east! On the way to KCK!
Our dear fearless Queen BZ has ventured to the land of her ancestors to learn yet another tale untold so that she may bring it to the world.
However, this time she brings with her a team of worker bees from her Omakyehstih Collective hive to bring the story of the Conley Sister’s to life.
This week they travelled to Kansas City, Kansas to speak with locals and collect stories about three sisters: Lyda, Helena, and Ida of the Wyandot tribe. They were responsible for defending the Huron Indian Cemetery going so far as to barricade themselves in a shack to protect sacred graves when developers threatened to grab up the land!
BZ’s new Carlos Santana suitcase headed to parts east to accompany her on this heart filling adventure
about that retirement…
Just as I was about to wrap up “Pebbles in a Pond,” and help create a way for its work to go forward under new leadership, I got a text from my niece: “Auntie, I found an incredible grant opportunity for us. Please call me.”
A wave of exhaustion washed over me, but I did call her. Within a month I had said, “Yes.” What else can an auntie say to her favorite (and only) niece? I did qualify my involvement: No admin tasks, and no budget maintenance, please!
We worked on the proposal; she did most of it. She also pulled in her very creative son. Lo and behold, in August 2024 we learned that we had been picked to create an ambitious project. What kind of project?
A traveling art exhibition that helps tell the story of the earliest days of Wyandotte City, today known as Kansas City, Kansas. And so, the story begins….
2024 in the rearview mirror?
How did we get here already? I guess we all just woke up every day, one day at a time. Last year was a quite full year for me, most of all because of the “Pebbles in a Pond” Voter Outreach project--My “Sunset Project,” ending in my final retirement! (BTW:Retiring from storytelling is really tricky. More about that later.)
Not only was I able to implement an novel approach to using the performing arts for the public good, but this project allowed me to hire at least 15 people as logistics helpers, technicians, set-designers and performers. With live shows, TV shows and podcasts, plus lots of community chats, PR goodies, and good newspaper/radio coverage, my team did an incredible job! Here’s a shout out to all of them: Jerry Day and the guys at Access Tuolumne, Gail Segerstrom, Olga Loya, Marianne Hale-Levitan, Rane Wilson, Tim McCaffrey, Adam Dragland, Elizabeth Root, Josh West, Khalil Rundle, Lisette Sweetland, Andrea Lisbon, R.D. Haratani, Jennifer Aguirre, Kathy Martinez, and Nathan Ignacio, and countless volunteers.
And it was pretty nice to have a regular salary to do what I love. It’s hard to explain how this kind of work sometimes makes us feel like WE should be paying people for giving us the chance to do what fuels us. But then, how would I pay my bills?
So, GOODBYE to 2024 and a very full year of good work. Here’s a big thanks one more time to the California Arts Council, United Way of Merced County, and Tuolumne County Arts for believing in me. And to all you other folks who supported us along the way, thanks to you, as well!
Oh, yeah, about that retirement thing? Stayed tuned…
Making a Splash for democracy…
Coming VERY soon to Tuolumne County: Opportunities to participate in strengthening our democracy through the ARTS!
Coming VERY soon to Tuolumne County: 7 LIVE SHOWS with musicians and storytellers presenting the history of voting, the struggle for voting rights, and a chance to “polish” up on what you forgot since 8th grade civics!
Coming VERY soon to EVERYONE: 6 Videocast programs and 6 podcast programs, designed to help us engage in the power of democracy.
Coming VERY soon to EVERYONE: The Calendar of these LIVE SHOWS and the recorded shows.
STAY TUNED! AND COME BACK HERE VERY SOON FOR UPDATES!!
Created by long-time community storyteller, BZ Smith, “Pebbles in a Pond: The Rippling Effect of Democracy” is her gift to the People of Tuolumne County. She’s pulling in some of the TC’s favorite musical groups, along with local storytellers and promising new talents. She’s also inviting local visual artists to share their works at the LIVE SHOWS. This grant is part of the Heartland Creative Corps project, which serves Merced, Stanislaus and Tuolumne Counties with support from United Way of Merced County. At home in TC, Laurie Livingston at Tuolumne County Arts is guiding the Artsy Flock of grantees. And overseeing the whole SHEBANG is The California Arts Council, working in partnership with the State Legislature.
weird science of grantwriting—pt 3 do you have the chops? understanding capacity building…
Are you biting your fingernails yet? You should be by this point! It boils down to this…
Can you really manage this crazy dream that you’ve envisioned?
Here’s the catch: There are two BIG STEPS that you’re tackling…
#1—The vigor, creativity, and minutia of GRANT WRITING. That process can be exciting, inspiring, energizing! But then there is the next part.
#2—Do you or your organization actually have THE CAPACITY to carry out what you’ve designed.
So, What is CAPACITY BUILDING?
Imagine that you want to open a new restaurant. What will it take? First of all, let’s assume that you’ve already determined that YOUR new restaurant will fill a need in your community, or for your target audience (We talked about these in Parts 1 & 2). So, now what you need is MONEY! That is why you’re writing a grant…To get the cash to build your dream (Or to fill a very vacant hole in your defined community).
But what else will it take to make your dream come true? A building? A great idea for a menu?….(Keep going)…A decent chef? A staff that includes a manager? Oven? Refrigerator? Pans? Knives? Forks? Plates? Forks? A dishwasher? FOOD? An advertising campaign? What about PARKING???
SPACE—STAFF—LEADERSHIP—MATERIALS—SUPPLIES—EQUIPMENT—PUBLIC RELATIONS These pieces all speak to your capacity to open and then successfully run a restaurant. Your grantwriting project needs to show that you can actually DO the project that you’re designing. Grantors (The peeps who make the choices and give out the checks) want to fund projects that will really make it, and hopefully thrive! So before you sit down to your writing table, be sure that you’re being honest about your capacity or your organization’s capacity to make it work. WHAT DO YOU NEED TO BUILD BEFOREHAND? Can some of your capacity building be incorporated into the grant and then be sustainable after you’ve spent all of the grantor’s money?
Take time to build it all in your head. And while you’re thinking that over, I’ll start organizing my thoughts on The Weird Science of Grantwriting—Part 4: The STRUCTURE OF LEADERSHIP!!! This is important to catch, and it is a really big FISH! Stayed Tuned.
WEIRD SCIENCE OF GRANTWRITING-PT 2 WHY do you want to write a grant?…
DONE! FINITO! FINIS! My application for the Heartland Grant is uploaded and in the Hands of the Grant Gods.
Part One of “The Weird Science of Grantwriting” focused on getting started and doing early research. I hope you read that entry.
Part Two asks “WHY DO I WANT TO DO THIS?”
If the answer is “Because I need a job and some income,” think again. Grants are given with loftier visions. It’s not about what YOU need or want. It is about how the funder sees NEEDS in communities. It is about how the funder wants to deepen their own mission by reaching goals to impact their chosen areas of concern. It is about how their chosen AUDIENCE can get their needs met, and whether or not YOUR ideas could make that happen. (Example: The Rose Foundation’s mission supports projects to foster stewardship of the land; building community groups; demand social justice. Their grants are usually small, but can give mighty presence to a cause. So, think about requesting grants for individual projects that fit into their mission. How about organizing communities to create initiatives? Creek clean-up of invasive species? Can you put together a performance that is about citizens’ action?)
Start thinking like your targeted funder thinks!
I can’t write a grant to pay my PGE bill or buy a car to get to work. But WHAT ARE MY SKILLS and WHAT IS MY PASSION? Can you imagine a dream that encompasses your passion, your skills, AND how you might be able to fill a need in your community where your skills and your passions intersect with community need?
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EXERCISE #1: Pen and paper ready! OR Memo Recorder on your SmartPhone! Set a timer for 5 minutes and WRITE or TALK about how your passion can find an audience in your own community.
Passionate about and skilled at making mosaics? Could you create a public art project that features a theme to tell your community’s or audience’s story? How would your public art change your town or neighborhood and impact the people who live around your mosaic? Write about how that would work for 5 minutes!
Passionate about gardening? Could you help create a neighborhood gardening service for low-income elderly people in your community? Write or talk about how that would work for 5 minutes!
Passionate about _____FILL IN THE BLANK___? Could you find a suitable audience, who could benefit from your involvement in this passion? Write or talk about how THAT could work for 5 minutes.
______________
EXERCISE #2: It is now the next day. Read your notes or listen to your recording, and reflect on how it all sounds the day after. Does it still seem like a viable idea? GOOD!
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EXERCISE #3: IT’S TIME TO REFLECT so that you can understand WHY your idea might qualify for a grant. The funder wants to create a circle of support around a chosen target audience. Those people and their needs need to be smack-dab in the middle of your project’s raison d’etre (reason for being). How will these peoples’ lives be better for their involvement with your skills and your passionate idea? Now write or talk about THAT!!!
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These exercises can help you home in on where you can begin. Here’s my own processing to understand what I can offer…
WHAT ARE BZ’s SKILLS?
I’m good at organizing events.
I’m good at keeping within a project budget and keeping receipts, documents, and other information that will be needed for reporting how I spent someone else’s money.
I’m good at staying within a timeline, or adjusting the timeline so that the project can be completed on time.
I know how to design entertaining programs for different age groups.
I’m good at telling stories that can be linked to a theme for a chosen target audience.
WHAT ARE BZ’s PASSIONS?
I love bringing people together to celebrate, to remember, to be in community.
I love to write.
I love to connect with people through stories
I love hearing that audible sigh and seeing the faces at the end of story.
I love listening to others talk about stories after hearing them.
I love feeling that I’ve had a chance to share a point of view with an audience.
I love knowing that I am willing to listen to other points of view.
UPDATE ON MY APPLICATION FOR THE HEARTLAND GRANT:
SO, IT’S BEEN A MONTH since I turned in my application for a very ambitious project with lots of moving parts. The good news is that I have NOT been asked to edit my application. That tells me that it sounds solid. So, THIS month the grant will move into a much more rigorous review process where the grant committee will decide which of the many grant applications is truly the most worthy and the most likely to succeed in reaching THEIR GOALS. That is fundamental: They offer funding to help meet their own goals. Essentially they source out the work in the form of grants to make things happen that fit within their own ideas of what will help make communities better and stronger.
It really is a process. Wish me luck!!
UP NEXT: CAPACITY TO DO THE GRANT!
WEIRD SCIENCE OF GRANTWRITING-PT 1…
This month I’m back in school jamming to get my homework done. No, wait! I’m writing another grant. Some folks think that receiving a grant is like receiving manna from Heaven. But ask the folks, who do that work, and ask the folks, who run the grants. It’s a science with steps that have to be followed!
It all begins with a dream? NO! It really all begins with an RFP (Grantese for “Request for Proposal”). Someone wants to give money to someone else, who promises to do good works with that money. You can hunt for RFPs, a process which can be difficult. Try a web-search (I that focuses on your interests and aspirations. Today I landed on Philanthropy Digest News. It’s worth a look!
I always look for grants in the arts, because that is my “wheelhouse.” You can start with your own dreams. Or if you keep your eyes and ears open, one might sort of land in your lap! Budget your time carefully on this step. So, go get your timer, and let’s get going!
Learn about who is offering these monies. Is it a private foundation? A nonprofit? Or a government agency. Hope for one of the first two, but be willing to work with the third.
Digest that RFP, reading it carefully. If possible, print out a copy. Hit it with the highlighter pen and a pencil, marking up key statements and jotting down questions in the margins. Look for places where your philosophy and theirs match up. Be ready to jot down ideas as they start to worm into your head.
HERE’S A BIGGY!! Go to the funder’s website and start reading. Start by finding out if they fund projects in your area. Many foundations and grantors focus on their home communities or regions. Check for this first so you’re not wasting your research time. Next be sure to read their mission statement several times! Your project needs to mesh with their mission. Again, this will save you time. Don’t fiddle around with a foundation that focuses on health for senior citizens in the Bay Area when you want to do a literacy project for children in the Central Valley! Things have to fit in order to go forward. Here are a few foundations that are here in California…
Have fun cruising through these sites. And be thinking about your visions and dreams. What can you imagine that would make your community a better place to live? How could your idea improve someone’s life? A few days ago I wanted to just throw away this current grantwriting “adventure.” It was getting too hard, and taking up every minute of my day. My grandson Sage looked at me, and said, “If you don’t apply, then your idea won’t have a chance. Later on you might really regret that you didn’t just try. Just try, Grandma!” Well, there it is. I’m trying….And I’m almost done!
If you have questions about grantwriting, go to my Contact Page. In the meantime, watch for Grantwriting PART TWO.
One Big Hug! At facebook, instead of the grocery store (from logan ainger, summerville High grad)…
BZ NOTES: Originally this piece was written in Spring 2021, but I hadn’t learned how to post my entries. So, here we are 2 years later! (I hope that Logan and Emily are still hanging out together. Most of all, I hope that they’re both living their best life in this moment.)
A while back I received this delightful story from a former student in my Facebook Messenger Service. I loved it, and asked the author if I could post it here. “Of course!” he said…
Wow, time flies! Though, keeping with past themes, here I am getting ready to graduate once again! I hope this message finds you well! I was actually hoping to send an email to you, since I know Facebook can be an inconsistent contact platform, but I figured that contact, either immediate or eventual, is contact in the end, and the subject-matter should brighten your day! At the start of 2021 I began a new relationship (yay!) but there was an inherent difficulty of distance rapidly approaching as obligations from the bay called me back to my home away from home. Wanting to continue fostering this newly seeded relationship, both myself, and my partner spent some time wondering about how best to bridge the gap, and continue to let the seed germinate and grow. During another evening (early morning) of staying up too late talking, trying to enjoy the time we had left together and stubbornly shooing away sleep, I playfully scolded her for staying up so late on a work night: look at the time! (1:30 am on the clock) Maybe I should tuck you in, and read you a bedtime story so you don't get yourself into trouble! I said, laughing. She replied in a soft voice: I like bedtime stories. I was a little surprised at first, but I remembered how comforting, and precious my memories of stories were. I remembered my mother reading me to sleep every night as a child. I remembered growing old enough to read my mother stories. I remembered learning the power of my voice when telling stories in school. (thank you!!) I remembered staying up all night reading more and more... always in search of new stories. I also remember when I stopped reading stories. And then, sitting on a couch at 1:30 in the morning, I realized how much I missed them. And so began the nightly tradition of telling bedtime stories. The stories have been short, long, in chapters, on the phone, in person, and via recording, but for every night, there has been a story. I never expected betime stories to be one of things I look forward to every day at 24, but they have been the catalyst for my relationship. Stories are what keep me close to her, even when I'm far away, and they let her know she's very special and important to me. They say that talking to plants helps them grow, and, at least for this analogy of a relationship, I can certainly say I agree. The little plant is growing quickly, and I can't wait to see where the story of it goes. Personally, I'm hoping it grows into something along the lines of the beanstalk from Jack and The Beanstalk. I hope you liked my short story! Both Ellen and I miss hearing your stories, and hope you're doing very, very well! - Logan
A LiFetime of stories
A few years ago my friend Peggy Reza (California’s Ukulele Empress) and I were giving our 12th “Santa’s Gone Hawaiian” holiday concert, Such fun! A fellow in the audience stepped up at intermission to give me a hug. I knew him right away. He had been one of my story hour kids back in my early days at the Tuolumne County Library. He had a couple of cute kiddles with him. Then he introduced me, “Guys, this is BZ. She told stories to Grandpa when I was a little boy!” WHAT?!?!?! I was telling stories to the grandchildren of one of my early story babies?!
So today I’m thinking about a way to capture some of those moments and plant the seeds for new ones. What if I created an arts legacy project. Just this morning I found The Performing Arts Legacy Project, a nonprofit organization that helps artists create a way to let their work live on. While it sounds a bit like a “vanity project,” I honestly feel that it would a way to outline the role of The Storyteller for our community and other communities.
I’m now way past 10,500 storytelling programs over these 50 years of telling. I started with preschool storytime for the Tuolumne County Library when it was in the old Forest Service Building, built by the WPA (on Washington Street in Sonora, CA). Since COVID Days most of my shows have been on Zoom. Ironically I just did a preschool storytime at the Murphys Library. A life really is circular. And…
Yes, it has been a lifetime of stories.
Hugs in the Grocery Store…
TELLING AT THE SONORA CHRISTMAS CRAFTS FAIRE IN 1982
Being a Community Storyteller opens many doors and windows...right into people’s lives! On this storyteller’s road I have met many families in my county, some of whom I’ve known for 4 generations! In my career as a storyteller and educator, I’ve met untold numbers of kids in libraries and schools, but I don’t always meet their parents. Kids in classrooms, school assemblies, or on field trips (to the library) don’t always have Mom or Dad with them. So, as a result, I’ve had a few awkward moments in the grocery store. A child will run up and give me a big hug, while a parent looks on and wonders, “Is it time to re-teach ‘The Stranger Danger Lesson’?”
Fortunately, living in a small town allows me a bit of wiggle room. Parents catch on pretty quickly when I explain how I met their child. It’s actually one of those experiences that taps right into some soft spot in my heart. It also reminds me how grateful I am to be a part of this community in a place where ALMOST everybody knows your name!
But with every coin, there are two sides. This Small Town Celebrity status among locals, who are under the age of 10, means that I have responsibilities: To act with kindness. To remember my words. To greet them with love and respect, even when I’m tired and in a hurry. My own children have a long-standing joke about not letting MOM go to the grocery store. “She’ll run into 10 people, and she’ll stop to talk to each one!” They are correct: Little kids, lots of grown-ups who knew me when they were little, parents who remember me from Library Story Times, teachers that I met along the way…What a blessing it is to have had a career right here at home.
TELLING “THE CARROT SEED” AT SOULSBYVILLE ELEMENTARY IN 1981
Years ago I dreamt of being one the big National Platform Tellers, sharing tales at all the major festivals. AND for a while I was on that course until a family illness put the brakes on that plan. Fortunately the contacts I made in those early years have helped me bring lots of those Big Name Storytellers to our town. One day I took a visiting teller to lunch at a popular local eatery. While we enjoyed each other’s company, a lot of people stopped by our table to say, “Hello.” Not to the famous teller, but to little old me. I had the joy of introducing them to the teller and inviting them to our upcoming concert. At the end of lunch, she said, “You are so lucky.” What? But I missed out on that shooting star! Then she added, “In my work I am always on the move, from one town to another. I’ve never had the chance to stay in one place. You’ve done that. You’ve had a chance to become the community storyteller, and that has given you a role in the lives of these good people.”
In that moment, I felt a surge of peace and of purpose. It is my prayer that these feelings and revelations will continue…even as I am now in my 6th DECADE telling stories in Sonora and Tuolumne County, California.
Online School, Pandemic teen—Part 2: GIVING BACK TO THE COMMUNITY…
Little Things Matter Most
an essay by Connor Lankow
Freshman at Sierra Nevada Academy for ARTS
Home School
Grandie Connor helps out local homeless community with help from The Resiliency Village.
Give Today to help their DREAMS!
Pictured with Co-Founders Mark Dyken & Shelley Muniz
This winter I decided to do a service project for our local homeless people for Christmas. The homeless population has been greatly affected by Covid-19 in many ways. It has made even just surviving an especially difficult task. I hoped my efforts would bring some comfort because it's truly the little things that matter most.
I decided that since it was the holidays, I'd put together about 30 gift bags. I went online and ordered items that seemed useful. Each bag contained two pair of warm socks, hand sanitizer, three masks, a biodegradable toothbrush, three small tubes of toothpaste, nail clippers, and some snacks. Organizing the bags turned out to be both easy and fun. Now the question was: How do I get them to the homeless, especially during COVID?
Since the Resiliency Village Project is working to build a small, safe community of tiny homes for homeless citizens, I asked if they could help me. Project founders Shelley Muniz and Mark Dyken agreed. With some help from my mom and my grandmother, we got the bags ready, loaded in the car, and we were off! We met in the outdoors near The Junction, being sure to meet every safety precaution when it came to social distancing. Especially since these bags were for the homeless, I was concerned about doing my part to make sure no one would get sick. The experience was great, and I got to know a bit more about the people I was handing the bags off to.
Christmas Cheer for People in Need. Connor with Shelley Muniz, Founding Member of the Resiliency Village
I was sort of acquainted with Shelley and Mark because my older brother had volunteered with them on a different project. However, this was my first time meeting them, and I was glad to learn more about their work. They talked about how both of them had grown up doing lots of service for people in need. Wanting to help others is a strong part of their values. Mark said, “Helping other people can really take your mind off of your own problems.” Most of the homeless around Tuolumne County struggle with mental health issues, which usually is the root cause of their condition. Being homeless means not having safe shelter or help when you're sick. Being homeless often means being lonely, too.
The Resiliency Village Project's goal is not only to help the homeless seek shelter and food, but also to help them rehabilitate. Along with helping people find a safe place to live, The Resiliency Village looks to provide mental health outlets to all those struggling and unable to get help on their own. Plus, they want to help the homeless people connect with other community services.
If you're interested in helping, there are many ways to get involved. First you can go to their website www.resiliencyvillage.org. Then you click on “how to help” this will provide you with links to donations along with the many other ways that you can provide assistance. Just one simple act can help so many people. A couple minutes for you can put a smile on someone else’s face. So, why not do it? It’s all worth it, I promise.
UPDATE FOR READERS! THE RESILIENCY VILLAGE PROJECT IS WORKING RIGHT NOW TO SECURE AN ADDITIONAL $25,000 TO HELP WITH EFFORTS TO BUY LAND IN TUOLUMNE COUNTY WHERE THEIR DREAMS CAN GROW.
IF YOU CAN, PLEASE DONATE TO THEM AT THEIR WEBSITE!
Online School? Life & Times of a FAVORITE Pandemic Teen
Youngest Grand Connor telling stories at the Mother Lode Storytelling Guild’s 2019 Story Slam in Murphys, CA
In late October we could see how he was struggling. Online high school was NOT what our Freshman grandson had expected as he launched into what he thought would be an exciting new world—This great actor, artist, writer, mathematician, musician, chef. This empathetic wise one. This punster. Instead he felt disconnected, lost, overwhelmed, uninspired, and absolutely alone! Thanks, COVID-19. A strange and tangled situation.
I love this kid, and am amazed at his depth of engagement WHEN he is inspired. Not in Fall 2020 however. So, I dove into the rushing river to keep him from drowning. Yes, I am now Home Schooling my youngest grandchild.
Is it easy, like being on a forever Field Trip of wonderful adventures? Not yet. We’re still doing this remotely and online. Thanks, COVID-19. We’re still trying to rekindle his motivation, and let him know how OK he is.
In December he embarked on a Community Service Project. He made 30 gift bags for a few of the homeless people of our community. The results were two-fold: The people who received the bags were very happy. He planned his gift quite well. And he stepped outside of his disappointments and boredom to give to others. Always a good way home. More soon….I promise.
WHY? Musing on Retirement…
I found myself diving into articles about organizational theory recently, probably because I was starting up a newly designed website. One article urged me to ask this question: WHY?
I’m turning 71 this weekend. My kids keep saying, “Can’t you just BE RETIRED?” So, I ask myself, “Why? Why am I compelled to keep doing and contributing to the world of storytelling and the arts?”
WHY #1—My whole identity and being has been immersed in this stuff…FOREVER! It courses through my veins, an integral part of my life force.
WHY #2—The immense power of our creative expression is the source of our life’s passions. What we do with deep love and conviction can carry us through the worst of times and can illuminate the best of times.
WHY #3—Storytelling is the VOICE of our HUMANITY. Our stories, both personal and ancient mythologies, are the bricks and mortar of culture and our very existence.
WHY #4—Well, this has another WHY Layer—WHY ME? After almost 50 years of a career as a storyteller, I think I still have a lot to offer to the future. I am one of the Old Sages now! That’s pretty cool, huh?
WHY #5—I don’t want to be bored, not when I can still see a path to creativity. I don’t want to put it all away yet. At my age, the best thing I can do for my own longevity is to KEEP DOING AND MOVING. (Yes, I meditate and find quiet time….for a little while.)
So, dive in with me as I keep swimming in the Sea of Story. Come along as I dabble in visual art, too. If you see me sitting down for too long, go ahead and ask me, “Are you OK?” I’ll probably say, “Yes,” because I am, and that is enough.
The final answer to the question WHY is. . . WHY NOT?
Pandemic-Part 3. Look for the gift
After about 2 weeks of being holed up at home, a lot of folks began to wonder if they were alone, really alone. I thought about George Stewart’s classic Sci-Fi Apocalypse tale, Earth Abides, written in 1961. The hero is a biologist doing research in the High Sierra Nevada (Ironically near my home). He gets a case of the “flu,” and thinks he’s going to die. Somehow he survives, and decides that he should get back to civilization. But as he comes down the mountain, he begins to sense that there is no civilization! No one is anywhere.
At the end of those first COVID weeks, I started to wonder if we were immersed in a similar scenario. I started thinking about all of the families with kids that were feeling disconnected. No school, no library story times, no playdates. The one thing I could do was to give the gift of storytelling…REMOTELY? So, I put on my Story Lady Super Powers Cape, and jumped off the cliff. Hopefully I’d be able to fly!
No prior experience with Zoom. No comfort with video-recordings. And then I discovered Facebook Live, and I made the leap! With help from the Mother Lode Storytelling Guild, I started weekly Story Time programs for different ages: Toddlers & Preschoolers; School-Age Kids, and Teens & Adults. We put out the word, and during that first week of Story Times, we saw an audience of nearly 200.
Shortly after a friend sent me a link to a grant from Cal-Humanities. They were requesting proposals from people whose work was impacted by the COVID-19 closures. Well, I had all my live programs had been cancelled, so I took a stab at writing the grant. And Voilà! I got one! I went to work with diligence. Soon attendance numbers grew as people shared the programs on their own Facebook pages. By two weeks out we had reached over 1500 households. I was humbled.
Telling stories and doing finger plays for toddlers & preschoolers
By the end of Summer 2020, the Mother Lode Storytelling Guild had produced 77 Shelter-In Story Times. Pretty good for a bunch of almost-Luddites! And of course, I am so grateful to Cal-Humanities for helping to keep me afloat during this time.
I hope that you can still catch them on Facebook at BZ Smith with the Buzz on Storytelling & the Arts.
But now what? COVID-19 has not “magically disappeared” with a “POOF!” as some predicted. Like my hero from Earth Abides, we’re building a new way of living and doing. My mom taught me to always look for the gift in times of adversity. At times in my life her words have been a mantra. I hear her voice each day. Hopefully we’ll get this virus, and the next one, and the one after that under control. Along the way, we are meeting ourselves in the mirror, and discovering so much about who we are….I know that I am making those discoveries.
Like Mom said, “Look for the gift.’ Read a book. Try a new recipe. Call an old friend. Tell your family why you love them. AND learn something new in the world of technology. How weird that our computers and Smart Phones may become the glue that binds us together for a while longer.
pandemic-part 2. this is the real deal?
Pretty soon the masks started arriving in the mail.
This one startled me!
By mid-March we were on a roll: Start seedlings for the garden. Get shopping lists ready. Go to the grocery store only every ten days. Mask? Gloves? Handwipes? Be careful wherever you go! Wash all the food that comes in the house. Then strip down and get in the shower! BTW, we were all really glad when we learned that we did not have to wash everything, right?
Nobody knows how this thing is spreading. In those early days we were all terrified because of the uncertainty. I heard a lot of this, “Whatever you do, do not visit or go to anyone’s house for any reason! AND do not invite anyone over here!” Even the cleaning lady?!?!?!? Hell’s Bells!
But right at that moment I had a friend who was just getting out of the hospital. Someone had to help him get home and get settled. I knew that it should be ME! Then schools closed, and a whole slew of storytelling gigs dried up rather quickly, even in the midst of the rainy season. And then there were our own grandies. What do you mean we can’t have our youngest grandchild here anymore? This kid has practically lived with us for eight years! Now they can’t even come in the door? That sucks big time!
At least we have had Sage (another one of the grandies) and Glenn (his sweetie-pie) sheltering in with us. They keep us laughing, help around the house, and sharing lots of 3-Way hugs with me!
Grandie Sage and sweetie pie Glenn
But what about our community? I wondered if COVID had just swallowed everyone up. How were folks adjusting? How were kids handling life at home 24/7? I needed to reach out!
Pandemic-Part 1. pandemic? Huh? WTF? Us?
March 3rd, 2020: I was getting gussied up to go to an Election VICTORY Party. But my husband says, “You can't go to a party! Don't you know that there is a Pandemic going on?”
I knew there was a weird virus floating around, a new strain of Flu? But I wasn't thinking about it being in our community yet. I’ve always been quite involved in the life of our community…in the trenches for almost every cause, pledge, campaign, rally. “There’s BZ, front and center.” These are my people! I want them to know that I am there for them 100%. But now here was my favorite person telling me to stand down, to “Let someone else do it.” That night I stayed home, and I was pissed!
Over the next two weeks, we hunkered down, listening, watching the news. Slowly I grew to understand that this really was a “Whole New World.” I started to grasp the truth of what it means to respect and love someone enough to do it their way. And I started feeling a new kind of calm that comes when you just STOP!
So, when our governor said, “Shelter In,” I was ready for this new thing. (My hub always stays home, unless he HAS to do an errand.) This would be easy-peasy for him. I decided to make it into a game. What could I get done? What had I been postponing at home? I sewed a quilt and masks. I sorted photos. I baked. I conjured “clean out the freezer” soups. I discovered new recipes. We planned our Virus Victory Garden. And I watched PBS News Hour every evening, and soon fell in love with Lisa DesJardins' cat. Yes, watching cats can make all the bad stuff go away!
But how long would this last? And what lay ahead?