With only two days notice, we moved from a pilot Zoom meeting in June to a scheduled Zoom session in August. We had been looking forward to meeting together again in the U3A meeting room, but that wasn't to be! Zoom actually seems to suit our sessions rather well, as we can follow the stories on screen while the writer is reading their story to us.
Despite a technical hitch at the beginning, which saw David waiting to join during the break, we had a session rich in story telling and responses from the group. 'Crash' stories were shared by Barry, Ray and David; with 'Stock and Land' stories shared by the two Bev's, Val, Marg McCrohan, and David (about his 'other life' as a shearer), and a thought provoking 'Cringe' story shared by Helen. There are new stories on the website from Michelle and Elizabeth - 'Crash'; and Marg Nelson's 'Curved Ball'.
Being at home, we had an additional activity inspired by Bev's 'show and tell' of a bottle of tomato relish made by Swanpool's Joan Warnock which reminded her of her Grandmother's tomato relish and meals of corned beef with relish from her childhood. Class members were sent to raid their kitchens, returning to hold up and visually share bottles of preserved lemons, relishes made by friends, home made tomato sauces, yo yo's 'almost as good as my aunt's lamingtons', a cauliflower 'which we always had in Ireland with a salted pork cut'; an old 'knife sharpener used by my father', finishing with Greg's piece de resistance, a bottle of methylated spirits, always used to treat cuts during his childhood, and even now!
With 'Right Here, Right Now' a topic next month, we checked out last year's 'Right Here, Right Now', stories. With us being once again in a hard lockdown and with most of last August's stories responding to the pandemic during a hard lockdown, even a quick overview of them had quite a powerful effect on us. If you would like to read them, here's the link - u3abenalla.weebly.com/right-here-right-now
Coming up on Monday September 27 '
‘If only I’d…’ Even though we are advised not to dwell on ‘if only’s’… we often do! Write about an ‘if only’ moment in your life in 500 words, describing the context surrounding it as richly as you can. Choose something which won’t make you depressed, something you feel you have ‘dealt with’, but at the same time something which shares the impact of even a brief moment in your life
‘Right Here, Right Now’ (R) (F) ‘A time capsule of the present. Write a story about a situation currently unfolding in your life, right here, right now.’
Despite a technical hitch at the beginning, which saw David waiting to join during the break, we had a session rich in story telling and responses from the group. 'Crash' stories were shared by Barry, Ray and David; with 'Stock and Land' stories shared by the two Bev's, Val, Marg McCrohan, and David (about his 'other life' as a shearer), and a thought provoking 'Cringe' story shared by Helen. There are new stories on the website from Michelle and Elizabeth - 'Crash'; and Marg Nelson's 'Curved Ball'.
Being at home, we had an additional activity inspired by Bev's 'show and tell' of a bottle of tomato relish made by Swanpool's Joan Warnock which reminded her of her Grandmother's tomato relish and meals of corned beef with relish from her childhood. Class members were sent to raid their kitchens, returning to hold up and visually share bottles of preserved lemons, relishes made by friends, home made tomato sauces, yo yo's 'almost as good as my aunt's lamingtons', a cauliflower 'which we always had in Ireland with a salted pork cut'; an old 'knife sharpener used by my father', finishing with Greg's piece de resistance, a bottle of methylated spirits, always used to treat cuts during his childhood, and even now!
With 'Right Here, Right Now' a topic next month, we checked out last year's 'Right Here, Right Now', stories. With us being once again in a hard lockdown and with most of last August's stories responding to the pandemic during a hard lockdown, even a quick overview of them had quite a powerful effect on us. If you would like to read them, here's the link - u3abenalla.weebly.com/right-here-right-now
Coming up on Monday September 27 '
‘If only I’d…’ Even though we are advised not to dwell on ‘if only’s’… we often do! Write about an ‘if only’ moment in your life in 500 words, describing the context surrounding it as richly as you can. Choose something which won’t make you depressed, something you feel you have ‘dealt with’, but at the same time something which shares the impact of even a brief moment in your life
‘Right Here, Right Now’ (R) (F) ‘A time capsule of the present. Write a story about a situation currently unfolding in your life, right here, right now.’
Bev Lee
