The Today Show, October 29, 2010

Michael & Dennis Hennington

Someone from NBC contacted husband John several weeks ago after he saw the web site for the Long Island Live Steamers.  There are photographs and videos showing people riding on small trains in a county park.  The idea was to stage a Halloween skit on the Today Show involving a steam engine.  John was intrigued with the idea, and others in the train club were enthusiastic.

Three men loaded 80 feet of track, a boxcar and a caboose at the train park and drove them to Manhattan.  Michael, the owner of the engine and cars, brought the engine and tender from his home in New Jersey.  They began assembling the tracks at 11 p.m.  Everything was set up on the private street outside the NBC studios, just a stone's throw from Rockefeller Center.  They had about 3 to 4 hours of sleep before going to the set.    Michael steamed up shortly after 6 for the segment that was to be live at 8.  A makeup man applied a handlebar mustache to Michael's face, trying to make him look sinister for the skit.

Mustache being applied

It wasn’t a slick production, but it was lots of fun.  Tina Fey was tied to the tracks, and Will Ferrell and Al Roker, the weatherman, were to save her from the advancing steam engine.  As Will was removing the ropes from Tina , he said they were so loose she could have gotten out of them by herself.  Wonder if that was part of the real script.  Al, dressed as Superman, gallantly stopped the train.  He swirled his cape and pushed on the engine with both hands.  I didn’t notice how quickly he jerked away until John told us that he burned his hands on the hot engine.  He also bent something, but Michael said he could repair it himself.  After the engine cooled down, the NBC people asked that it stay there on the tracks.  During another segment (Doctor Love?) the tiny woman who was screening questions for the doctor sat on the train with her laptop.  I think they may have used the train again for the next show.  It took forever to get everything dismantled, and then they had to travel through rush hour to get home.  John managed to stay awake through dinner, telling us as many details as he could think of.  It wasn’t long before he was sound asleep.  He was very satisfied at the way everything worked out, saying it was a once in a lifetime experience.

Michael as sinister villian

Daughter-ometer

If you ever need a Daughter-ometer, I hope you will have one available.

My recovery from the second total knee replacement has been slug-slow, especially compared to the phenomenal bounce back from the first one.  There were weeks that I felt I’d made no progress whatsoever.  What I needed was someone to measure the gains and to cheer me on if warranted.  That someone was daughter Kate who lives in New Jersey and comes to stay every other weekend.  Everyone else sees me too often, and they can’t see any difference in my walking from day to day.  Kate began to comment on how she viewed my mobility.  I am now dependent on her report to know that I have not regressed.  It has been a bolster to my thin veneer of patience.

Niece Chrissie is the Daughter-ometer for her mother.  Over a period of time the two of them discovered that Chrissie sensed from her mother’s voice on the telephone if her mother were having a migraine headache.  In fact, it was such a finely tuned instrument that Chrissie knew before her mother did if a headache were in the offing.  Isn’t that amazing?  Now, if Chris wants to know if she dares to go to a particular function, she’ll dial her Daughter-ometer.  Depending on the voice vibes, Chrissie tells her it’s safe to go or watch out, there is a headache in the offing.

I’ve not read of other Daughter-ometers, but I presume they work under many different circumstances.  In the two mentioned above, one judges the immediate past, and the other is a true forecaster.  I’m certain the accuracy is much, much higher for headaches than for weather forecasting.

Have you ever used a Daughter-ometer or known of one?  Please share if you have.

Outbreak of Rudolphism

About a week ago daughter Lise pointed out a red bump on her nose, which I’m sure felt as big as a crab apple.  I could hardly see it, and I certainly couldn’t feel her pain.  She wears discreet makeup, so perhaps I didn’t see it in all its glory.  Several days ago my nose began to feel a bit tender.  You should see it now!  My bump is as red as a beet, and I’m convinced it might glow in the dark.  I haven’t the courage to look.  For good measure, I put a dab of antibiotic ointment on it.  Half an hour later I got out my mineral makeup which I use about three times a year.  Now I look like I’ve stuck my nose in putty.  Which is better?  A red beacon in the night?  Or a fake putty nose?

Dreaming of Volunteer Readers

Writing was always easy for me, yet cost me many friends.  When saying goodbye at critical junctures, like graduating from high school or college, girls exchange addresses and promise to write.  I was the one in the group that did actually write.  Not only that, I’d reply to any letter sent to me within a day or two.  I didn’t have enough sense then to know that it would drive people away.  Who knows how many friends I might have kept if I hadn’t drowned them with a torrent of words.

Writing to family members was different.  There was an assumption that they’d be forced to read what I wrote in case they were tested later.  If I shared an agonizing time when our children all had a broken bone at the same time (fiction), family members would be expected to remember that.  If I referred to it later and met a blank stare in return, it would be a dead giveaway they hadn’t read my letters.  The upshot of it is that I drove people away with too many words, and at the same time, held an audience captive with verbosity. 

Many years passed, and now I have a niece and a nephew who are professional writers.
They have accomplished something that eluded me. They enticed people to read their output. I stand in awe of that. Chrissie is a freelance writer who is the Feature Writer for Children's TV at Suite 101 - http://www.suite101.com/profile.cfm/infomania. She also writes for the Coalition for Quality Children's Media - KIDS FIRST! http://www.kidsfirst.org and BookRags (http://www.bookrags.com). Lars had his first book published last year by Crown Publishing – Lost to the West: The Forgotten “Byzantine Empire That Rescued Western Civilization.” The paperback -http://www.amazon.com/Lost-West-Forgotten-Byzantine-Civilization/dp/0307407969/ref=tmm_pap_title_0 came out just a few weeks ago. I am very proud to be related to both of them.

My dream now is to write from home for volunteers – those who are not obligated to read
my words for any reason. I’m free. You’re free. Let’s have fun!

Literary Nudge From a Scarecrow

Image from andrewmuir.net

Well, not so much a scarecrow but more of a nudge from the aunt who introduced me to the wonderful world of Worzel Gummidge. I used to love scampering next door to play with my cousin, Kate, and listen to the way Aunt Anne made trivial events come alive through finely crafted wordplay. It was a sad day when I learned that their family was heading off to live in England for two years. But as they say, good often comes with the bad. 

In addition to having a chance to visit them and learning how to waltz from their gardener, Mr. Clews, the family's move also broadened my personal literary horizons. Aunt Anne wrote delightful letters to those of us left back in the United States. I still remember the excitement of receiving them. She also introduced me to a popular English book series based on a walking, talking scarecrow named Worzel Gummidge by Barbara Euphan Todd. The scarecrow stories broadened my creativity, and I began to craft my words with care, following my aunt's example. 

Perhaps it was Gummidge's influence that turned me on the path that I now walk as a writer specializing in children's media. That's one scarecrow that didn't scare me away! Now my aunt has agreed to write this blog with me so she can delight more readers with her phraseology and ability to see mundane scenarios from a totally new angle that makes them spring to life with stunning brilliance and subtle humor. 

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