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Feb. 4th, 2008 02:59 pmI'm planning to go to Milwaukee with my grandfather and visit the Story Corps booth there with him. I've never been all that good at talking to people and, though I've been managing better and have had more confidence over the last few years, and have had really nice talks with him the last few times I've visted, I'm more than a little nervous about sitting with him and interviewing him for an hour. I really wanted to take him to the train museum in Union first; maybe have the chacne to just talk with him in the car for a while. But it looks like they're closed until Spring.
So, I'm trying to think of what to talk to him about. Before he retired, he made his living as a farrier, and I'm fascinted by that. I definitely want to know more about that. How he got started, interesting stories, interesting people.
He's talked about going to the blues clubs in Chicago as a young man; I want to know more about who he saw play, who he used to go with, what the clubs themselves were like.
He used to live on a farm that, when he moved in, had no indoor plumbing except for a pipe that went from under the sink to outside the kitchen wall. The house was well on to a hundred years old when he bought it if memory serves. There was a barn I used to play in and fields, and horses.... I'd like to know about how he found the farm, what it was like when he first moved in there.
I'd like to know more about my great-grandfather. He was head of research for Portland cement, was a ham radio operator, and ground his own telescope lenses. He told me a story about making a telescope with him that they later sold to a neighbor boy. I want to hear that again, and learn more about my great grandfather. I never knew him, but it sounds like we would have really got along well.
I could ask about how they got through the great depression, but that seems so overdone, you know? I could ask too about the business he started producing and selling training videos for farriers, but, though that's interesting, it doesn't intrigue me quite as much as other things.
Maybe even silly things like what growing up was like. What games did kids play? Did they run around the woods all day in the summers, playing cowboys and indians? Did they do lots of stuff that parents these days would prohibit as unsafe?
I'd like to know how he came into having the dog that I remember from my childhood, Loki, who used to ride with him to work in his truck. I remember riding in his truck and thinking how cool it was that the whole back seat was just covered in dog fur. I guess that's part of why I like having Kuma in the backseat of mine. I should tell him that. I'd like to know what other pets he's had. Horses, dogs, cats....
You know, it's amazing how easily that all flowed out of my brain considering that, when I started writing, I was worried I wouldn't be able to think of much. What else should I ask him or talk to him about?
So, I'm trying to think of what to talk to him about. Before he retired, he made his living as a farrier, and I'm fascinted by that. I definitely want to know more about that. How he got started, interesting stories, interesting people.
He's talked about going to the blues clubs in Chicago as a young man; I want to know more about who he saw play, who he used to go with, what the clubs themselves were like.
He used to live on a farm that, when he moved in, had no indoor plumbing except for a pipe that went from under the sink to outside the kitchen wall. The house was well on to a hundred years old when he bought it if memory serves. There was a barn I used to play in and fields, and horses.... I'd like to know about how he found the farm, what it was like when he first moved in there.
I'd like to know more about my great-grandfather. He was head of research for Portland cement, was a ham radio operator, and ground his own telescope lenses. He told me a story about making a telescope with him that they later sold to a neighbor boy. I want to hear that again, and learn more about my great grandfather. I never knew him, but it sounds like we would have really got along well.
I could ask about how they got through the great depression, but that seems so overdone, you know? I could ask too about the business he started producing and selling training videos for farriers, but, though that's interesting, it doesn't intrigue me quite as much as other things.
Maybe even silly things like what growing up was like. What games did kids play? Did they run around the woods all day in the summers, playing cowboys and indians? Did they do lots of stuff that parents these days would prohibit as unsafe?
I'd like to know how he came into having the dog that I remember from my childhood, Loki, who used to ride with him to work in his truck. I remember riding in his truck and thinking how cool it was that the whole back seat was just covered in dog fur. I guess that's part of why I like having Kuma in the backseat of mine. I should tell him that. I'd like to know what other pets he's had. Horses, dogs, cats....
You know, it's amazing how easily that all flowed out of my brain considering that, when I started writing, I was worried I wouldn't be able to think of much. What else should I ask him or talk to him about?
