Summer is drawing to a close. At the Buchanan household this means that “spitting season”—a time for fresh, juicy red watermelons—is ending.
On many a summer evenings you can find us in the back yard with our toes lined up with the railroad tie that divides our driveway from our lawn. It’s the official “spit from” mark. Standing in the grass—toes to tie—we take turns seeing who can spit watermelon seeds the farthest. Len will tell you that I usually win because I’m so full of hot air!
When I was in elementary school there was a fellow classmate who stuttered. Our third-grade teacher would oftentimes say, “Spit it out!” in frustration when my friend had difficulty speaking. I found myself in Mr. Fleck’s office—the principal—on more than one occasion for being the “mouthpiece” for my friend. A small price to pay for a big lesson learned in advocacy.
There are other occasions when “Spit it out!” is a phrase used in an effort to get a person who’s merely reluctant to say something, to say it.
When was the last time you were hesitant to spit it out—to say something?
“Whatever you are not changing, you are choosing.”
— Laurie Buchanan
www.HolEssence.com and our Facebook page
© 2011 Laurie Buchanan – All Rights Reserved
Tuesdays with Laurie 
Well, Laurie I have to say that voicing my opinion has never been one of my problems. Unfortunately I tend to ‘spit it out’ it tooooooooo much for some people’s taste. . . and speaking of ‘taste’ that watermelon looks good enough to eat!!
Alison – Your comment, “…tooooooo much…” made me laugh. When I was young there were occasions when my mother would ask, “Laurie, did you brush your teeth with gun powder this morning?” I’d say, “No mom, why?” And she’d reply, “Then why are you shooting your mouth off?!”
Our son stuttered for several years when he was younger. It was so challenging. One of the things that “worked”, oddly enough, was when I began to think slower in his presence. The slower I thought, the easier he spoke. One caseworker said he might never speak without a stutter. It was a pleasure to watch him as he flawlessly read the graduation names in high school as they were called up to the podium–and to know that he rejoices in teaching classes without any problem. When was the last time I was hesitant to say something? This morning. A person wrote a comment elsewhere in the blogosphere where they decided they knew me and told me what was happening in my life. My first response was annoyance. My second response was compassion. But I am still hestitating before responding, waiting to see what seeds might be planted in a good way.
Kathy – I love that you took the time to observe and figure out that when you thought slower, Christopher’s speech started to ease, to flow more readily.” As far as that comment elsewhere in the blogosphere, my knee-jerk reaction would also have been annoyance (ok, royally pissed). I can only hope that I would have slid into compassion as you did. My hat’s off to you!
Laurie
This is a event in Crystal Lake
You could charge tickets to see.
Buchanan Spitting Festival
I think I need to drive by to get a glimpse….ROFL
Reluctant??
Well I left hubby in March…..
Reluctance lasted a month or two…..before I finally told him…..
Kim – In overcoming your reluctance, you’ve stepped into a whole new world. “Buchanan Spitting Festival” – you crack me up!
I would pay to see that festival….!!!!!!
Kim – I’ve said it before, I’ll say it again, you crack me up 🙂
What a cool game. I’d love to play.
Hestitanting…um…yeah that would be a good idea. Lately my tongue has been dangling in the breeze too much.
Leanne – All it takes is a watermelon, and two people who want to compete. I think you should dash to the produce section at your store and start today!
Sadly I am not reluctant often enough. I usually say things without meaning to offend. Yet although something I say may not be taken as an offense, it is considered stupid (that my thoughts are wrong becuase they don’t match the reader’s thoughts).
And I often wonder why I post/publish anything I write! I may spit it out, but I am guessing my words don’t correctly express my thoughts, my heart.
Ann – Well, from my perspective (as a subscriber to your blog), I’d say that you write to uplift others — and do a darned good job of it, too!
Thanks Laurie. I am always happy to know when something i have written is helpful to others. My confidence level isn’t always up to par, but I am trying to work on that 🙂
I appreciate the compliment from your sweet self.
I love watermelon and we spit our seeds over the deck and into the woods, but right in our spot watermelon does not grow…I need to look carefully to just get seasonal organic watermelon
I guess my recent “spit it out” was getting rid of the newsletter software that I could not get to work for me and cost a great deal of money. I had to cough up the dough and after 2 months of effort just spit it aside….now I am looking at another program, have it up but not loaded yet…as IT Girl’s Thesis is due October 5 and she is in writing mode full time…we will get there
I just thought I would say…that yesterday at my acupuncture session I had 2 hours of absolute pain freedom, which continued on for 5 more hours at home…after 3 months of such intense, chronic pain…I am just working on relaxing stiff areas of the body today and taking very careful baby steps.
I found I could sit on a chair and fold my summer clothing into piles ready for storage. I could not pick up the boxes from the attic, but on Monday biker guy will be home from his 6 week bike tour….I will have help 🙂
I am highlighting Talon’s stunning poem to her mother on my blog post today – there is a link – Her Mother had a massive stroke on Sept 9 and died suddenly….her poem is just amazing and worth the effort.
Patricia – I’m tickled pink that you’ve found pain relief through acupuncture. That’s fantastic news! Having technical problems has been known to trigger conniption fits in me! I haven’t received my email notice yet of your new post — I suspect it’s winging its way to me as we speak — I’ll head over there shortly.
Hi, Laurie — your teacher was an idiot. There. I’ve said it. After all these years of pretending that my teachers were smarter than me. That is not to say they didn’t teach me anything (they did . . . even the idiots) but, like you, I would just sometimes look at them and wonder what the hell they were thinking to respond like they did to children. Turns out most of them were not thinking. But it taught me a valuable lesson: save my spit for when it counts the most and will be the most effective.
Barbara – Amen siSTAR! (Although I never really minded going to the principal’s office because he had a glass eye that never stayed put — it was sort of mezmerizing to watching it do its own thing while he was scolding me – the trick was trying not to smile)…
The image of your family lined up and spitting is a funny one.
BUt then again…
Having organised a street party, maybe it’s time for me to organise a street spit party. We do get watermelons here in the UK, but perhaps there’s a more local equivalent? I’ll think on it.
Paul – I can see you starting a new trend! Let’s see now…up in the Highlands they have caber tosses, maybe you could do something creative with pints?
Actually that’s something we’ve been working on for some time.
Paul – Naturally the pints will have to be empty, and what better way to accomplish that task than to drink the contents 🙂
Spitting watermelon seeds? That sounds like the makings of a new competitive game! I applaud you for being so agile at this Laurie, no matter what Len says! Ha!
Yeah, the watermelon season is just about over, and even my beloved blueberries with now be subject to a substantial price hike with October just around the corner. But this is a fun time with all the pumpkin patch hay rides being offers on some suburban farms not too far from here.
Ha! Spitting things out. yeah, sometimes our tongues are tied and with good reason. But as you imply here the panacea is always to say what you are thinking. I’ve often kept quiet to parents about students who crossed the line, but this strategy can only go so far.
Sam – A pumpkin patch hay ride sounds like something the whole family could enjoy! I can well imagine that the parent-student-teacher lines can get very sticky at times…
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