Monday, June 27, 2011

Protector


There’s two. One is going. [June looks at the trees, whistles like a bird, and taps her feet on the ground as if she’s running.] Somebody is carrying a lady through the forest. The Georgia woods with average Georgia weather, warm and sunny. The forest is in the woods somewhere. She’s dead, like me. I’m going to die at 7:00 pm. [Ruth Ann starts crying.] Every day is a bad day. They won’t miss me. He’s going to get rid of her, put her in the ground in a garden.


[The other storytellers try to reassure Ruth Ann.] He is very gently carrying her, rescuing her, taking care of her. He would not walk off and leave her. He can protect her by putting her in the ground. To put someone in the ground for no reason is bad behavior. Even though he was the aggressor, he found her in a dangerous position. The people’s safety at heart. This is just one moment of kindness. She’s hurt. He’s carrying her at a distance, and her with her hands around his neck to help. Maybe she stepped on something. He is taking her home. Maybe she just likes to be carried. There’s a rock. Some people like to be carried. It must be nice to be carried. I want to be carried. I have Friday ninety.


He’s a Union soldier named Jonathan, who has found a woman lost in the woods. It’s around noon, because the light is hitting the top of the leaves on the trees, lighting their path to safety. This is a tribute to the Union troops, as much as they hated fighting with the South, he is using this occasion to represent the war between the States. The fact that it is as much or more about helping people than shooting and killing. This kind of tribute is a proof of that. Two lovers, friendly, because they are not fighting. She most likely is a person who is a victim of the fight between North and South.


I suspect it depicts Annabell Lee. George Washington is saving her. They could on the rock for safety reasons or to celebrate something. If they are there for safety, they better stay put. They are afraid of something. He has a gun on his shoulder, which signifies the battle between North and South. There are lots of rocky places in the area. It is a typical forested area, obviously a depiction of what went on. The base of it is the base of a statue. They are a statue commemorating that the northern soldiers had the safety of the southern soldiers in mind when they were fighting.


She could be scared because there are snakes in the grass. It would wrong for her health to be there, some kind of harm or danger or debris. Any kind of snake is vicious. Even grass fish are dangerous if you're not prepared to go through the weeds. They calmly move through the grass without making noise. You could step in it or on it without realizing it is there. The cowardice is in me. Someone must decide that it is safe enough to move through the grass.


This location is in a park area or something of that nature. It is a depiction of something that actually happened. Some kind of animal would hurt her. An example of being part of the Union with the same freedoms as the states in the North, freedom of speech, all of the freedoms. This is actually saying the North was not trying to hurt the South. This is a really good example of their intentions. It would be fun to see it in person and to know if this actually commemorates George Washington. I can only imagine her name is Annabelle Lee.


Mable, Ruth Ann, Alice, Jeanne, June, Patricia, Henry

3 comments:

  1. Since I worked in long-term care settings, I relish the stories to be tapped from this living library! Am I correct in understanding that the names at the bottom of this story are the individuals who collectively looked at the photo with someone else recording their comments? Is the care facility in a southern state which might account for the focus on the war between the states?

    Since I submitted the photo, and someone commented that it would be fun to see the statue in person and know what it commemorates, here it is: This statue stands in the middle of Minnehaha Creek in the Minnehaha Park area of southern Minneapolis MN. It depicts Hiawatha carrying his beloved Minnehaha ("Laughing Waters") across the stretch of water. It is based on Longfellow's poem The Song of Hiawatha.
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Song_of_Hiawatha

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  2. Prairie Nightingale,

    I'm sorry that it has been such a long time between when you posted this comment and when I responded. I'm working on my thesis, and consequently, re-reading all the stories I've collected over the past two years, and I've just now discovered the comment you left. I will do my best to answer your questions and ask a few of my own as well.

    Yes, the names at the bottom of the story are the individuals who were looking at the photo, as a storytelling prompt, while I typed their story.

    Yes, the care facility is in Florida.

    Thanks for the information you provided. I don't remember exactly how I came upon it, but I learned what the statue represents, and I informed the storytellers.

    Now, onto my questions. First, did you take this photo? Second, if you did take the photo, may I have your permission to use it in my thesis?

    Thanks for your time and interest, and I hope to hear from you much quicker than you've heard from me.

    Take care,
    Alice

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  3. Edy!!! I left this comment and then clicked on a few links to try to find out who left the comment, and there you are, my Facebook friend! What a pleasant surprise.

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