As a writer and literacy teacher, it’s no surprise that I love words. When I was in elementary school, my teacher tasked the class with identifying our favorite word. Mine word was pure. While useful, the definition had little do with my gut choice.
To me, the word pure sounded musical, like water rippling over riffles in a stream. No kidding, that’s the image that came to my mind all those years ago.
The other day, one of my literacy groups had an impromptu vocabulary lesson. Two fourth graders arrived. One smiling, the other with a long face. My inquiry about his discontent expression was met with a shoulder shrug and something that sounded like “I don’t know” but was more of a “Uh-duh-know.”
“Do you have the mulligrubs?” I asked. That got his attention and the interest of his smiling classmate.
Mulligrubs (or mulligrubs) is a pretty old word and another way of saying you have the blues. You’re not really sad, but you’re not happy, just kind of pouty and moody.
The kiddo with the long face never did cheer up that day—guess he really did have the mulligrubs. His smiling classmate? She wrote the word at the bottom of a page in her notebook and tore it out.
Head over to my website to read my latest storytelling installment about the new word I just learned—shibboleth—coupled with a story about my recent visit to the small, historical town of Wytheville, Virginia.
In Wytheville, I visited The Grind, a quaint coffee shop and eatery. While sipping a butter pecan latte, I hit a milestone in re-writing my novel-in-progress-manuscript. I passed the 80,000 word count. That’s huge for someone who freaked out stopped writing the first draft at 70,000 words.
While I’m not ready to share too much about the story, it is greatly inspired by a myriad of teaching experiences and family stories from the Great Depression.
Speaking of family stories…
A few months ago, columnist Brittany Breeding put out a call for stories and photographs centering around Appalachian history. My great-grandmother’s life story was recently featured in Brittany’s Appalachian Bluebird news column. Read the story in the Coal Valley News.
Brittany’s weekly column is syndicated across 10 newspapers in Ohio, Virginia, and West Virginia. She describes herself as “an Appalachian storyteller dedicated to sharing the rich culture, history and folklore of Appalachia.” Brittany has been a guest on The Talking Appalachian Podcast. Check out her content on social media under “Appalachian Bluebird.”
That’s all for this month! If you’re interested in my library of stories or want to learn more about my writing, please check out my website.
Warmly,
Beth Anne Hill
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