Ponder this:

Sunday, November 16, 2014

Speaking of dialects

I've been thinking about how much I love listening to and practicing accents. I think that some people are good at dialects and some aren't. I think it's a right brain/left brain thing, something along those lines. Just as some people can draw and some people can't.

A few Thanksgivings ago, my sister got down my book of Uncle Remus stories. I know they're politically incorrect now, but I remember my mother reading them to me in the afternoons after Lunch, before Nap, and I like the tales, so I keep the thing on the shelf.


When I was little and we lived on the farm that my grandmother's grandfather had built, there was an old old wicker wheelchair in the barn. The wicker back and seat were all broken and curled outward, and it had been a long time since the axle had received any attention. One summer we dug it out and spent what seems like weeks wheeling each other around in it. I got way more rides than my sister did because she was bigger and I was too weak to make the thing move forward empty, almost, never mind with her in it. It was a rough ride, and I was little. I remember holding on for dear life so I wouldn't bounce out as my sister rolled me across the yard. Sometimes it felt as if she wanted me to bounce out.

Imagine sitting in that antique wheelchair. 
Now . . . make the wheels square instead of round. 
Imagine yourself sitting in that broken out seat while someone, perhaps a brutish older sister, pushes you across uneven ground. 
Can you feel that?

That's what it sounded like when my sister read aloud, to all of us, from The Complete Tales of Uncle Remus.


***

I wrote this post and then left to go to the store. On the way there, I heard a radio program about Sarah Jones and her one-woman show wherein she becomes many different women, at least to the ear. Sometimes I think ideas float around in the atmosphere and land in different places at the same time. How else to explain that particular coincidence?

13 comments:

DJan said...

Hmmm. I don't believe in coincidences. I think you're right: there's an ether of ideas that float around outside our heads. My dad used to think that women were more sensitive to those things because of our long hair acting as antennae. You made me laugh, thinking of that old chair and your sister. :-)

Barb said...

I believe energy that could be transformed into ideas is constantly "out here." The probability is that we "latch onto" those pieces that fit our sensiblities at the moment. I liked your reminiscence about the wheelchair. I'm certain she DID want to bounce you out! Hope that stove is keeping you warm!

Tom said...

You're so right, and like you, we often find that "ideas float around in the atmosphere and land in different places at the same time."

Hilary said...

I had no idea where you were going with this.. the chair and the accents but you tied them together for me. That made me laugh. And I think you're right in that final notation. Coincidence is just a word for some of what we don't understand.

Olga said...

Ha! I was the older sister, so I couldn't quite relate to the wheelchair rides in quite the same way. Also I amine of those who cannot do accents well and I really wish I could.

Vicki Lane said...

It's painful to listen to some folks attempt some accents. Others do them well. But I adore all accents --- makes life more interesting.

SmitoniusAndSonata said...

I love hearing my youngest daughter , who's never even been to Scotland , using expressions my grandmother and her grandmother will have used .
Sayings and recipes are the most lasting inheritance .

Friko said...

Uncle Remus passed me by, wrong language. So however non-pc it is I don’t care.

I don’t go much for pc anyway. But if it hurt you to listen, then I’m sorry.

Friko said...

My, you’ve taken up blogging again !
I’m pleased.

Carolynn Anctil said...

I don't believe in coincidences. I do love serendipity though.

My husband can do a few accents brilliantly and he never fails to make me laugh when he does. It's a talent, to be sure. ;o)

Linda Myers said...

I do believe in serendipity.

My husband does fabulous accents - of horses, cows, pigs, sheep and elephants!

C-ingspots said...

The Uncle Remus stories were my absolute favorites when I was a child!!! And I don't give a rat's patootie if they're pc...

On the accents, I enjoy them as well.

Rose ~ from Oz said...

I do so enjoy parking my somewhat generous backside here and stopping for a while.
(I too, think she tried to bounce you out!)
Getting chilly over your way I imagine.
Coincidences, happenstance, serendipity - all worthy of a good ponder me-thinks.