Creekbank Stories Curt Iles, Storyteller
DAY 2 “Three Trees” needs helping friends: ‘A book needs friends before it needs readers,’
PROLOGUE
CHAPTER THE THREE TREES
If you notice the cover, there are three trees.
Each has a story to tell.
I’m in the season where I want to pass on the heritage and culture of the Louisiana Pineywoods that have shaped my life.
The three trees on the cover illustrate my intention. The small longleaf has spent years in a grassy stage; all of the time grows slowly above ground for a number of years but putting down a strong and deep tap root.
Then, there’s the majestic mature longleaf pine in the background. These native trees can live over one hundred years, standing watch over its field of children trees.
Then there’s a third tree on the cover you shouldn’t miss. It’s the thin skeleton of a dead oak. I can’t remember if lightning, disease, bugs, or simple old age led to its demise. Regardless, the next storm will probably topple it.
But it also did its job, earlier standing as a sentinel over my field and passing on its seeds to grow more descendants.
I want to think I’m at that tall, mature, longleaf stage. I know there’s plenty of sap in me as well as a deep tap root. I plan to be around for a while. I’ve got too many books to write!
However, I– like each of you– will eventually become that blackened trunk.
That’s why I want to share Field Notes. There are many grassy stage pines surrounding me that weren’t brought up in my culture. I want to pass on these rich rural values that the old blackened trees taught me of the values that never change or wither.
I plan to do this until my pine topples or until they pry the pencil out of my cold dead hands.
I’ve found my purpose in life. It’s to write and share moving stories that inspire and encourage.
There it is. Write. Share. Moving Stories. Inspire. Encourage.
May I be a good steward of this assignment.
I want to finish strong and finish well.
THE STORYTELLER
More than anything, I’m a storyteller.
“The shortest distance between the truth and a human heart is a story.”
-Anthony DeMello
Stories have the power to change us.
To change how we look at others as well as ourselves.
My hope and prayer as you travel with me through a lifetime of journals, you’ll find your own life-story.
And write it down.
To pass on to those dearest to you.
That’s legacy.
That’s what legacy is.
INSERTED
CHAPTER LEGACY ONE OF TEN WORDS
The trail behind
The markers
The crumbs
Legacy is not what you leave behind.
It’s not what you’ll be remembered.
It’s about who you’re becoming.
It’s about the trail you’re blazing for those behind you.
The loved ones that matter.
They’re your legacy.
True legacy isn’t about material things and heirlooms.
True legacy is about the circles of life around you.
The buckets you choose to pour into.
And remember that your water is limited.
Be careful to pour yourself into the buckets that really matter.
Be careful. Some worldly bucket have holes in them. Be sure to invest in those that hold water.
Legacy.
Get a large sheet of paper and sketch out the buckets of your life.
What are they?
Who are they?
Yes, make your own bucket list
The people who’ll outlive,
BLANK PAGE: NOTE TO FUTURE SELF:
THIS IS TODAY’S YOUTUBE FROM PHILIPPIANS.
