Amy’s blog http://amyable.blogspirit.com/archive/2006/06/11/where-i-m-from.html  turned me on to the poetry contest Joy in the Morning is sponsoring:

http://joyinthemorning.clubmom.com/joy_in_the_morning/2006/06/writing_contest.html

It is based on George Ella Lyon’s poem here: http://www.carts.org/staff_poem2.html I am no poet but reading about where my friends are "from" got me thinking this week.  If you have done one of these do share your links with me!  I love reading about other women’s history. Here is my stab at it:

Where I am From

I am from snow covered and slippery in winter and zucchini laden and mosquito bitten in summer,

From saddle soap, braided manes, and counting steps til the jump,

From ‘Bless us O Lord’, homemade pickles, pie for every holiday, and the thrill of drop-in guests who linger around Grandma’s table,

From babies in hand-knit layettes with oiled hair,

From polkas at weddings and When Irish Eyes Are Smiling and old Aunties in cat’s eye glasses,

From ‘cleanliness is next to Godliness’, washing windows, and ironing everything that doesn’t move,

From Betty Crocker, Franco-American, cream soup based hot dishes, and Kool-aid,

From watching smoke swirls from pipe tobacco and

Salem

cigarettes and ashtrays in every size, shape and color,

And hence – from bronchitis every winter and painful ears resting on wool scarves placed over hot water bottles; from pink penicillin and oxygen ‘tents’,

From antique sales, found treasures, and Country Living subscriptions in the heart of the city.

From Beach Boys at the State Fair and the kiddie menu at Perkins,

From latchkey kid and nightmares and afraid of the dark,

From beloved nuns in long black habits with Kleenex in their sleeves to guitar masses and always being a ‘reader’,

From Scholastic book orders, the free lunch program, and posters of Sean Cassidy,

From Gloria Vanderbilt, Zena jeans, turned up collars, GunnySax dresses, and new Bass shoes in August,

From CW Anderson, Cover to Cover on PBS, and Judy Blume books,

From ‘don’t believe everything you hear’, ‘you can find anything in a book’, and ‘question authority’,

From AFS t-shirts, Dutch dictionaries, and homesickness,

From pompon routines and Friday night videos on cable and Prince records played over and over,

From head over heels and waiting by the phone to twenty years of following the love of my life around the world,

From seeking the truth to finding the Truth,

From this is only temporary to this is home.