Snappy Beginnings

Snappy Beginnings
I have a friend here in Coronado, Roslyn Kirk, who taught English writing at the U of Utah. Tuesday I asked her for some help in writing an interesting autobiography. Her first suggestion was that you have to start with an attention getting story instead of ‘I was born 20 Nov 1939 in Rexburg, Idaho.’ Well I have already blown it, but what if I would start all over again with a really snappy beginning? I could start a new section with an interesting intro. That might capture your interest and you would read on. I have been wracking my brain all week for some “snappers” and hope the following beginnings will be worthy of your time. This is good information for you too when you begin a conversation, your blog, a journal entry, an article, an essay or a talk for church or work.

Snappy Beginning #1
Seven of us ‘Beehive Girls’ had escaped from girl’s camp and were hiking along a dusty trail on the western side of the Grand Tetons. It was a beautiful July day with a fresh forest full of animal sounds and the giggles of us girls. Through the trees I spied the glimmer of sunshine off of water and lead the pack to the edge of a lonely mountain pond. The water was so clear you could see the moss and pollywogs on the bottom. I couldn’t stand to let the opportunity go and tore my clothes off and dived in naked. The water was near 40 degrees and I almost went in to shock but I paddled around anyway yelling, “Come in you chickens the water feels great.” There were no takers and in a few minutes I was getting numb and climbed up the slippery bank. One of my so called friends seized the Kodak moment and snapped a picture of me in the buff. (but that’s another story) This is a type for my life for I am impulsive and I like to fill each day with adventure. Living with Larry for low these 50 years has settled me down a little and kept me out of jail.

Snappy Beginning #2
The Schaffer Switchbacks in Canyon Lands have a thousand foot drop and are the dramatic start of the White Rim Trail. Why would a 70 year old granny think she could negotiate those hairpin turns and come out unscathed? Well I am the granny who tried.
For 15 years our family has biked and 4-wheeled through the tough 100 mile Trail and I had never gone down the switchbacks. If I could just follow Sidney I knew I could do it. The deal was to follow but no; about half way down I wondered why she was going so slow for the road wasn’t that scary. I took off ahead and was feeling proud and exhilarated by the steep drop from the edge of the trail. Just as I came around a tight right turn the dry dirt put the front wheel into a skid. I panicked and crashed in to a geriatric heap on the trail. With an alarmed look on her face Sidney yelled, “Mom, are you OK?” I was able to stand up immediately but the blood was already down my shin into my sock. She tenderly squirted the dirt out of the wound with her water bottle and dusted me off. “I’ve got to get back in the saddle now before I chicken out”, I said and lumbered on my gel seat and took off much more slowly this time. At the bottom I looked back up at the steep cliff we had just descended and it was hard to believe they could even cut a road up there.
This is a pattern I have used in my life of taking risks, having new experiences and continuing to try to grow and learn. I love life with all of its adventures, switchbacks and fun.

Snappy Beginning #3
Can pigs fly? Can dogs climb trees? Well my dog Prince could as Billie Sommers is my witness. My beloved rust colored cocker spaniel followed me everywhere around town. That day he had followed me to Billie’s house to play. Against a tree in her backyard leaned an inviting tall ladder. Billie climbed up first and hollered, “Come on up this is a great view.” “Wouldn’t it be cool to get Prince to climb the ladder and join us in the tree?” I thought. Putting his front paws on the first rung I coaxed him to keep going. Much to my surprise he didn’t hesitate and was up three rungs before I knew it. Slowly he inched his way up the 12 foot ladder and into Billie’s arms. I followed him up and we all sat together in the crotch of the tree laughing at the strange picture a dog in a tree must have made.
Shortly we grew bored and descended leaving Prince whimpering in the tree. “Come on down boy”, we pled. Climbing up was easy but going down a ladder forwards or backwards was beyond his skill set. I couldn’t lift him down because he was a big dog and I was a little girl. We finally pulled an old door over and leaned it up the tree. I carefully tugged Prince on to the door and we slid him down. Adventure over, we laughed that next time we would have a better exit plan.

Snappy Beginning # 4 From The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls
I was sitting in a taxi, wondering if I had overdressed for the evening, when I looked out the window and saw Mom rooting through a Dumpster. It was just after dark. A Blustery March wind whipped the steam coming out of the manholes, and people hurried along the sidewalks with their collars turned up. I was stuck in traffic two blocks from the party where I was heading.
Mom stood fifteen feet away. She had tied rags around her shoulders to keep out the spring chill and was picking through the trash while her dog, a black-and-white terrier mix, played at her feet. Mom’s gestures were all familiar-the way she tilted her head and thrust out her lower lip when studying items of potential value that she’d hoisted out of the Dumpster, the way her eyes widened with childish glee when she found something she liked. Her long hair was streaked with gray, tangled and matted, and her eyes had sunk deep into their sockets, but still she reminded me of the mom she’d been when I was a kid, swan-diving off cliffs and painting in the desert and reading Shakespeare aloud. Her cheekbones were still high and strong, but the skin was parched and ruddy from all those winters and summers exposed to the elements. To the people walking by, she probably looked like any of the thousands of homeless people in New York City.

I just started reading this book and it is pretty good. Has anyone read it? Jeannette Walls also wrote Half Broke Horses. Anyone read any good books lately?
If you don’t have a Snappy Beginning at least have a Snappy Come Back.