Broken Feather Stories

In a far and distant land called Colorado, there walked a man named Broken Feather.  Broken Feather was a great cavalry scout.  Probably the greatest cavalry scout who ever lived.  He had a dog named Peto and a cat named Hairy and a duck named Bill and a bear named Bear, and he had two good friends named Ol' Sweet Tooth and Ol' Sour Dough.  Oh, and let's not forget about Straight Arrow, but he was usually lost.  He had two gorgeous daughters named Princess Yellow Hair and Princess Morning Star, and a beautiful wife named Running Deer.  There were also his dragon friends who lived up in the mountains, George Burns and his wife Imelda (who had 3,000 feet) and their son Scorch.  There were the mushroom people and the magic pony... and that pretty much covers it.  So anyway...

This is how story time started in my house growing up.  As kids, the best way to get my sister and I to cooperate at bedtime was with the promise of a Broken Feather Story.  We would rush off to our bedroom and await the sound of my dad's heavy steps on the staircase.  Sometimes, he would start the intro on his way up, and after years of recitation, he could say it in about 20 seconds (or, at times, we got the abridged intro, "In a far and distant land called Colorado, etc. etc. etc.")

Through the art of storytelling, my dad took us on countless adventures.  Once, Princess Morning Star ran away and joined the circus because she didn't want to eat what her mother had made for dinner, but after two weeks of shoveling elephant droppings, she was disillusioned with her new career and wanted to go home.  When the owner of the traveling show would not let her leave, it came down to the magic pony to fly in and save her, with the help of Scorch and his fiery brand of persuasion.  Another time, Straight Arrow got so lost, he wasn't seen for a month, and when they finally found him, he was in the woods behind Broken Feather's house (which was blocked by a few trees and a bush), living in a lean-to and surviving on berries.  After that, he didn't go much of anywhere without a map.

My dad always told us that he met Broken Feather in the army, and of course, we believed him, because he said it so matter-of-factly and parents always and only tell the truth, and since dragons were real if he said they were, they must just live in the Rocky Mountains, where we hadn't been, so that explained why we'd never seen one.  Also, his comically dated pop culture references soared straight over our heads.  Even as we got older, I remember laying in bed, discussing the possibility that they were komodo dragons, and that the stories hadn't been pure fiction so much as embellishment.

The truth is that, to this day, if you told me there was record of an actual man named Broken Feather who lived in Colorado and was in the same infantry as my dad, I would probably fall straight back into believing every word of his tales (including the dragons.  I'm an easy sell).  I long to know what Broken Feather is up to now, and whether his girls, now adults, are still in Colorado, or if Princess Morning Star achieved her dreams of stardom and whether Princess Yellow Hair became the marine biologist she longed to be.  (Or perhaps they're both still working toward finding themselves and their dreams. Princess Morning Star doing theatre when she can through a small production company comprised mostly of her closest friends, while perhaps Princess Yellow Hair is...oh, I don't know, living on a sailboat somewhere warm and sunny, playing her guitar and making it by.)  Whose to say?

The power of storytelling is incredible.  I attribute so much of my creativity and imagination to my dad.  Someday, when I have kids of my own, I will tell them about Broken Feather, and how he was a man they'd have been blessed to know.  And in telling his stories to them, hopefully they'll feel like they do know him, just as I did.  I may not know what he's up to now, but his stories live forever in my memory and in my heart.

Broken Feather was a great cavalry scout.  He was also a great father.  Probably the greatest father who ever lived.

New Things!

I often harbor the notion that my life is boring and uneventful now that I'm out of college, but looking back at the past few months, I'm realizing that I actually do interesting things sometimes.

Or it could just be because October is the most important month, full of the best things.  Whatever the explanation, I've had a really fun fall.

I kicked off autumn by sharing in the wedding day of two of my closest friends, Emily and Chuck.

The day could not have been more beautiful.  Blue skies, 65 degrees, a gorgeous outdoor venue, and my family of friends, all together, celebrating the happiness of two of its valued members.

Aside from the wedding, the obvious highlight of any fall is Halloween.  This year, my boyfriend Max and I were on a mission from God.

No, I did not get my four fried chickens ...or my Coke.  But we did take home the award for Best Couples Costume.  It was quite the honor, because we were up against some heavy competition.  Mike Nelson and Tom Servo of MST3K fame, Mia Wallace and Vincent Vega from Pulp Fiction, and Clark Kent and Lois Lane (with a mid-evening costume change into Superman to save a captive Lois), to name a few.  Ahh theater kids.  You gotta raise your standards to keep up around this crew.

Although he staunchly disagrees with me on whether Halloween is the best holiday (which is dumb, because it is.  Obviously.) Max took a break from marching in his one man Christmas Pride Parade to celebrate my favorite holiday with me.  On the actual day, he surprised me after work with pumpkins, a carving kit, an offer of jammies aaaaand The Nightmare Before... *ahem* ....Christmas.  It was a drizzly, cold, rainy night, but it was pretty perfect from where I was standing.

Apart from Halloween activities, we also had a fun-filled day at the orchard wine tasting, eating our body weight in donuts, and getting lost in the corn maze for roughly 20 years.  I was in good company, though, so I didn't mind at all.

Another highlight of October was our trip to see one of my best friends from college, Arielle, who is in her last semester of grad school.  She was performing in her thesis show, which just happened to be one of my very favorite comedies, Noises Off!  I drove down to Western Illinois with Molly, Max, and our other college friend Darion.  It was so great to spend time with some of my dearest friends that I rarely get the opportunity to see anymore, and it was an added bonus, getting to watch Arielle perform.  She is so talented, and I can't wait to see where she goes now that she's almost done with her schooling.  I look forward to saying, "I knew her when..."

Midway through October, I got to stretch my acting muscles again as well, as we started working on the University Wits' fall show.  It was an original piece by my best friend Molly's husband Kyle, called Shadows at the Sanford.  We stepped back in time to Grand Rapids just before the turn of the last century and told a heartfelt story of love that knows no boundaries.  I was proud of my friend for all of his hard work, both writing and directing... plus, I just really liked my costume.

The cast of Shadows at the Sanford

Looking back on my very eventful fall, I have to admit that I'm both lucky and blessed to not only have such fun and exciting opportunities, but also to have such wonderful people with whom to share them.  Hopefully this winter will turn out to be half as good as autumn has been.