Jo Bennett – B Jo Bennett. Author

Domrémy, Birthplace of Jeanne d’Arc

Jo Bennett — Thu, 01 May 2025 15:47:46 +0000

Domrémy, the birthplace of Jeanne d’Arc

Pin # 2

This pin is for Domrémy, the birthplace of Jeanne d’Arc, or as she is known in English, Joan of Arc.

Our family took a day trip to the birthplace and home of Joan of Arc, Domrémy, in northeastern France. I remember a basket full of baguettes on the bus for lunch and returning home with a glow-in-the-dark Joan of Arc statue. After the visit, I talked to the statue at night and put her under my pillow. I loved that statue and developed a love for this Maid d’Orléans from that play. And even at that young age, her story of hearing voices from God and burning at the stake left an impression.

I was surprised when, years later, two of my students wanted to write a report on her. From childhood memory, I had no idea this Maid was a heroine revered by young women today. She is admired for her bravery and audacity in getting access to help a future King of France and for taking it for granted that her visions were essential and authentic that, for a short, significant time, the right people believed her And believed in her mission.

While that statue was essential to me as a child, I now understand that she was crucial to helping France regain its independence. While some doubted her, thankfully for her, two soldiers believed her when she discussed her “vis” ons “e” piece” lly when she could describe a battle before it occurred. They took her to Charles, the disinherited rightful king of France. Charles was exiled from his country during the Hundred Years’ War in England.

She was dressed as a boy in armor and taken to Charles. She was only a teenager when she was sent, and he was a young man in his twenties. He also believed she was genuine when she shared visions about his inmost thoughts, which he only shared with God, or so my research revealed.

I had no idea that this pin on the Bavarian hat and this childhood memory was so important—historically and personally.

Joan of Arc led the French soldiers to victory against the odds and eventually escorted Charles to be inaugurated as King Charles VII in 1429 at Reims. This is what her visions told her needed to be done.

I have that a new movie will be made soon, adding to the several already made about this inspiring woman who had visions and, just as importantly, was believed. This is the part that intrigues me and satisfies me the most.

The Bavarian Hat. The first pin: Roma

Jo Bennett — Tue, 01 Apr 2025 17:04:45 +0000

The pin from Rome (Roma) is at the top of the hat – because, at one time, all roads lead to Rome. It was the center of the universe for much of the ancient Western world. Some of the memories I have of Rome include standing at the bottom of the steps of the Trevi Fountain. Vendors set up shop, sitting on the sides of the steps, and tourists walked up and down the middle. Did it seem like steps because I was small? My memories blend with movies I’ve seen and may not be completely reliable about the facts. We threw coins and made wishes. I do remember that!

I also associate this pin with the Coliseum. We walked between the fountain and the Coliseum and looked down on it. We must have been on a hill. I was five and six when we collected the pins for this hat, so, indeed, some details are vague. But still, others are vivid: I can hear the water splashing from the fountain and still see the statues of the horses.

For me, this mosaic pin represents Rome. I remember someone asking me when I was in 3rd grade, which part of Europe I liked the most, and I answered Rome, Italy. Who’s to say that early experiences don’t matter or that children are too young to be affected by what they see? Some of the memories of the pins are as fresh as yesterday. Yesterday, becoming today.

Bavarian Hat Blog

The first pin: Roma

San Francisco Fog

Jo Bennett — Sat, 01 Mar 2025 17:49:17 +0000

From the Second Verse collection:

I worked as a temp in a building that overlooked Alcatraz Island in one direction and, in the other, a tall building with the name Empress of China on the rooftop in the financial district of San Francisco. I wrote this poem at the end of my work with the financial firm about my temporary hold on the view.

It turns out this rooftop garden restaurant also had a temporary view of the view of the scene. It closed in 2014 but re-opened as Empress by Boon in 2021.

San Francisco Fog

She came today,

wrapping herself around

the Empress of China,

walling from view Coit Tower

and Alcatraz.

She wove her threads about the

hooded sisters who grace

the Kearny Street Building

like a halo,

pressing the black and shiny panes

with the weight of her airy sadness.

This fog, this San Francisco fog.

The noonday sun

burns through her hold of land.

The bay, more volatile

allows her still a place.

At two, that blue and moody face,

it too, comes free, azure

once more against

the steepled church façade.

A red boat pushes

toward the open waterway,

there between the twin cathedral peaks

like Charon’s sacred passage home.

We watch this view.

This view too brief to hold.

On Climbing Mt. McKinley

Jo Bennett — Tue, 31 Dec 2024 18:24:04 +0000

On Climbing Mt. McKinley

from the Second Verse Collection (Barbara McKinley)

The tape I made,

my inner voice,

became my companion.

. . . An important part of my continuing.

Put your foot here . . . keep yourself moving . . .

Don’t sit down . . . Keep yourself going . . .

Step by step,

I take the mountain.

I relax.

I make myself ready.

Always alert.

I watch. I wait.

I know when the storm will blow

and work as a team,

with my voice,

toward the goal.

When I reach the summit,

once on the summit,

I feel—not joy.

Not a jumping-up-and-down-feeling,

but a quiet peace and calm.

A place of no color.

No wind. Air.Blankk and silent.

On returning, once more

To the green and color.

Extremely felt and

observed.

Air pushes against my movements.

I resist. I move through air as a

vessel moves in water.

And I hear sounds

other than the voice

in my head and

the wind.

In the end, the feat wasn’t

technically so challenging

or difficult,

as a matter of willpower.

And on returning, I work to keep

the summit ever ahead.

Never finished.

. . . keeping the silence within

while moving midst

color, pressure, and sound.

I wrote this poem from listening to a climber describe how he managed to complete his goal of climbing Mt. McKinley. I listened intently since I had been aware of my name, McKinley, all of my life and felt it had significance. Interestingly, not long after hearing the interview of this mountaineer, the mountain in Alaska was officially renamed by the federal government as Denali, meaning the “high one,” named long ago by the Koyukon, the people of Alaska who settled in the interior area north of the mountain.

Our goals may change or take on different names, but the drive remains

el día de los muertos en México. The Day of the Dead

Jo Bennett — Sun, 13 Oct 2024 17:19:31 +0000

el día de los muertos en México. The Day of the Dead

In Texas, where I’ve been living, we observe el día de los muertos, or the Day of the Dead, at the same time as Halloween or the day following, November 1.

I learned much more about this celebration when I taught at a high school for adolescent immigrants from Mexico. In my advisory class, we wrote a short skit and performed it for another class. All of the students were from Mexico except for one. Luyen was Vietnamese. She was put off by the play in a local cemetery. A colleague brought over some slides of family altars his aunt had prepared. I learned this was a day to celebrate those who had passed recently or years ago. The altar included food, clothes, music, or other items the relatives enjoyed. A can of Coca-Cola. Flowers. An album of a favorite musician.

The students were learning to put ideas together in English. Inspired, one student stood up enthusiastically, “It’s about life. It’s about death in life.” That was what the skeleton and costumes that showed skeleton frames meant. The butterfly, or mariposa, symbolizes a rebirth or transformation in life. In performing this play, we were all transformed. Luyen understood about the alter because they had an alter in her home when her grandfather passed away. Friends would bring flowers, food, or other items for the family.

They all decided they would like to see butterflies in the cemetery during the play to convey the idea of rebirth. The Mexican students and Luyen came closer that day. I learned more about my colleague. And the students felt confirmed by sharing this part of their culture deeply – and not just with “food” and “fun.”

Luyen means “to love, especially the love of one’s country.” We felt love that day. The students experienced a rebirth in their new country. We honored the cultures and countries of the students in our class that day. This alter, in the picture, is a memory of that day—and that play.

el día de los muertos en México.

1926 Ingleside Seed Farm Catalog Cover

Jo Bennett — Sun, 11 Aug 2024 17:58:56 +0000

The Ingleside Seed Farm was founded in the early 1900s by John Willis McKinley and his wife, Virga Mae Pridy.

They both began as schoolteacher and then, as the farm developed, they improved seeds that would grow well in the dry Kansas climate with the help of a primitive irrigation system and a greenhouse.

They built a garage for the seed business, complete with scales where bulk seeds were measured out on the spot for buyers. The trees on the farm were planted by the McKinleys and the Works Progress Administration (WPA) in the 1930s to keep the winds from blowing dirt. Seven rows of trees were planted to surround the farm—one row of Russian Olives, one of Long-needle pines, two rows of locusts, two rows of cottonwood, and one of a flowering shrub.

This is the sign still on the side of the old garage used for storing, weighing, and storing seeds.