As you probably already know, as an educator, I primarily write for and about children. Mud is perfect for young children. It has such a great texture for play and responds in so many ways when we squish it, splatter it, stomp it, throw it, roll in it. There is something enticing about getting wet and dirty, and children seem to find puddles and mud totally irresistible. I hope I’ve captured a little of that excitement in my flash.
Mud Cake Recipe
How to Make Mud Cake
Ingredients
A patch of loose soil
A generous supply of water from the sky, hose or bucket
Rays of sunlight
A sprinkle of imagination
A torrent of laughter
Utensils
Gumboots
Method
Add enough water to soak the soil. It must be wet, not moist.
Stomp until well-mixed with no visible remnants of dry soil.
Squish the mush by hand until the hands are completely encased.
Spread by hand the gooey mixture over face, hair and clothing until well covered.
Terrorise the neighbourhood.
Leave in place until dry in the sun and the mud cakes.
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One of my favourite TED talks is Ken Robinson’s Do Schools Kill Creativity? If you haven’t watched it yet, I recommend it as a very entertaining 20 minutes. I find it both heartbreaking and inspiring at the same time.
In the video, Ken suggests that “all kids have tremendous talents, and we squander them, pretty ruthlessly.”He quotes Pablo Picasso as saying that every child is an artist. Remaining one into adulthood is the problem.
Robinson then goes on to talk about having lived at Snitterfield “just outside Stratford, which is where Shakespeare’s father was born.”
He asks, “Are you struck by a new thought? I was. You don’t think of Shakespeare having a father, do you? Do you? Because you don’t think of Shakespeare being a child, do you? Shakespeare being seven? I never thought of it. I mean, he was seven at some point. He was in somebody’s English class, wasn’t he?”
Now that’s an interesting thought. I wonder if your English teachers remember you from their classes. Could they have made any of the comments that Robinson suggests may have been made about the young William Shakespeare, including:
“Must try harder.”
or at bedtime, being sent to bed by his dad,
“Go to bed, now!”
“And put the pencil down!”
“Stop speaking like that.”
“It’s confusing everybody.”
It’s quite a thought. Perhaps as writers, we should reveal our school reports that are relevant to our writing careers. How well did our teachers predict our futures?
But we’re not discussing writers in this post. We’re discussing rock stars. I guess most rock stars started out in someone’s classroom too. And that made me think of this inspirational video by Clint Pulver, professional drummer and motivational speaker, who discusses one moment and one teacher who changed his life.
We all hope for a Mr Jensen in our lives to help us realise our full potential.
Movin’ It
Miss Prim turned from the board just in time to see Max land a punch on Michael.
“Ma-ax!”
“He bumped me.”
Miss Prim sighed. “What were you doing, Michael?”
“Noth—”
“He was rocking the desk again.”
“How many times—”
Without direction, Michael removed himself to sit in the corner. Before long, his feet were twitching, his elbows were pumping and his whole body was squirming.
“Michael!”
Everyone looked.
“Sorry, Miss,” Michael muttered.
But he couldn’t keep still.
Years later, when he was a rock star, Miss Prim said, “I knew he’d make something of himself one day.”
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I chose the name Michael for my character for three rock stars, only one of whom is still living (the oldest) but all of whom had the moves.
Mick Jagger
Michael Hutchence
Michael Jackson
Thank you for reading. I appreciate your feedback. Please share your thoughts.
Norah Colvin 