True Derby

True Derby – Introduction to the Girls

Yes, I am Darla, the lead character in “Darla the Roller Derby Queen Trilogy”.  But the real stars are the girls out there skating every weekend, taking the hits, sporting cool names and putting on the show!

True Derby posts will feature those real stars.  As I skate around and meet these women, I am impressed all over again by who they are.

They come to this unusual sport from all walks of life.  They are mothers, school teachers, high school students, tax professionals…you name it.

And they come for all kinds of reasons.  A need for something new in their lives.  An escape from something old in their lives.

The thrill of it.  The camaraderie of it.  The body crunching.  The hugs at the end of the bout.

They didn’t come to it from high school or college scholarships or elite youth programs.  They just came to derby

They may march.  They may not march.  They skate.  They are skating all over the world without a lot of fanfare or news coverage.

Meet them here as part of my True Derby blogs.

And send me the names of any derby girl you would like to see here.

Skate On!

Darla

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Political Muck and Such

The School Shooter and You

Yes, Dear Reader, there was another school shooting today.  There was one a few weeks ago and most likely there will be another by and by.

It is today’s park bench discussion everywhere.  It is a tragedy.  It is unfathomable that there will be another.  It is also someone’s fault.

But whose fault?

Today some tell me it is the fault of the school systems…they are not secure enough.

It is the fault of the national government.  They need to pass better laws.

It is because too many people have guns.  It is because not enough people have guns when they are needed.

It is the parent’s fault.   It is social media’s fault.  It is the fault of media coverage.  It is obviously the shooter’s fault.

It is not your fault or my fault.  The shooter is the bad guy.  We are the good guys.  We have done everything the right way.

But let’s talk about that.  Do we have any responsibility for the last shooting, or the next one?  Oh, I hear you gasp.   You have no control, so how can you have responsibility?

Someone has to be hurting pretty bad to become that bad guy.  Did someone look away and not smile?  Did someone label that bad guy early on as “not like us”.   And stay away.  Did a system force this bad guy to be day after day with people who didn’t like him?

Be honest, when you heard the news today, your first involuntary reaction was probably “Thank God that isn’t my child and the ones lying dead aren’t mine either.”  That would be normal. We are normal,  of course.

A young person said to me today “I want to make a lot of noise and have someone take care of it, so I can get my life back to normal.”

Oh, my.   This day has become normal.  And who is to take care of it?

Well, don’t look at me for the answers.  Just raising the question.  Don’t we all have just a tiny bit of personal responsibility for the other ones?  Even our children, who we teach to interact with others?

I believe we each play a part.  Somewhere in the fabric of it all.  And a part of the solution.  If we start listening to each other.

Skate On!

Darla

(Bench in Galveston, TX north side.)

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Scabs and Other Body Parts

The Scab’s Message

Hello,  Dear Reader.

So let’s talk about scabs.   Well, why not?  Most conversations will wind their way around to one body part or another eventually.

Perhaps it’s a part that hurts.

Maybe a body part of someone else’s that we want to discuss in detail.

Good or bad, watch and see if you don’t mention some part of your (or someone else’s) body at least once today.

But scabs…they have a pretty important message, you see.

Let’s start with the scab conversation.  While the scab discussion usually isn’t an icebreaker, it can lead to a more detailed conversation in which you get to know someone a little better.

Like, “Hey, that’s a pretty big scab.  How did you get that one?”

Or, “Well, that scab seems to be healing nicely.  Don’t worry a bit that everyone is looking at it.”

I even had a man come up to me and say “You know the real reason God invented scabs was to give us something to pick at when we are bored. ”   Truly, it happened.  I have no reason to lie about that!

But it seems to me that the real reason we should talk more about scabs is that they truly are a miraculous thing.  You get hurt, you bleed, and suddenly, voila!  A scab appears.

No doctor put it there.  You don’t have to go to the hospital to get one.  You didn’t have to purchase it or qualify to get a scab.

It’s your body taking care of you.   In fact, when we DON’T make scabs, that’s when the doctors and hospitals really go into a panic.

The scab is saying…”You got it inside to heal.  I’m here to remind you of that.”

Even the doctor and hospitals will tell you that they don’t cure your illness.  They just do whatever they can to help your body do it .

That’s the message from the scab, I think.   I hope that gives you something to talk about today.

Skate On!

Darla

(Fort Davis in far West Texas is quiet now, but oh the conversations that may have happened on this bench there outside the Army hospital.)

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Art of the Listen - Bench Talk

Introduction to The Listen

So, listen.   This is Darla, from ” Darla the Roller Derby Queen”.

If you’ve read the book you know I do most of my storytelling, and my listening, on a park bench.  I never know who will be on the bench with me, but it always turns out to be the right person at the right time with the right message.  That’s just the way it works.

If you haven’t noticed, there are a LOT of benches around.  Just start paying attention and you’ll see them.  In parks, obviously, but also in front of buildings, in train stations, in cemeteries. You will see benches in movies, in advertising campaigns, and just sitting there in front of you.  I can go on and on, but you will get the picture if you just start looking around.

And there is no better place, metaphorically, to get to know someone you probably wouldn’t meet otherwise.  You just have to quit talking and learn to listen.

That’s what the blogs in Art of the Listen will be about.

So, listen.  You just might meet a friend.

Skate On.

Darla

(Waiting for the ferry to go to Bolivar Peninsula on the Texas Gulf Coast.)

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