By: Hettie Basil Lighttower
Some of you have asked how I came up with my pen name. So, I will share a little bit about what transpired in my thought process on its selection. First of all, Hettie is just a cute name and a little bit of a hint of my given first name. It also, reminds me of a song I learned in my childhood called “Hettie the Hen”. I will explain more about her in a moment.
“Basil” because I do a lot of workshops and classes about plants, herbs foraging and natural ways to heal. As a matter of fact, here locally at the Brooke County Library I will be one of the guest speakers about foraging on April 26 at 11am. You are welcome to join us if you are local. The Tri-State Master Gardeners puts this event on every spring. It is a great program which encourages folk to learn the world around them and to identify edible plants.
That is one reason I decided to use the middle name of Basil. A second reason is a dear friend of mine had the name as his middle name. I always thought it was the coolest middle name. He unfortunately hated it. I would like to say it out loud to him just to watch his disgust! Lol. He has now since matured and has embraced his middle name and is a world traveler, after all, his own parents did the same as famous ballet dancers!!
“Lighttower” because someone around here has to shine some light on the subjects we need to learn more about. “Lighthouse” was too cliché and already over used. I needed something unique and noticeable. A tower stands out and above. This is what I do. Light is of a pure intention for all things good and righteous and it dispels fear or darkness, making things right.
These are the multiple reasons and ways I decided on “Hettie Basil Lighttower”. And with a silly name like that, it would be memorable and captivating. But my hope is that my words and information gathering and sharing will be just as memorable. It is my hope that I make this world a better place one article at time. It is my hope that I can make your life smoother and easier with my sword of knowledge.
Now, about Hettie the Hen. I will include the lyrics:
“This is a story of Hettie the Hen. If you’ve heard it before, it’s worth telling again. Because some folks are different in color or name, it’s often times much better than being the same!
It was early one Easter morning. In a town called Everywhere. A farmer gathering up his eggs in the cool crisp morning air. He was filling his wicker basket with his eggs all white and brown. But then he couldn’t believe his eyes, and he laid his basket down. For there in the nest of Hettie the Hen were eggs that he’d never seen! He wiped his eyes and looked again, they were blue red yellow and a bright red green! WELL, you should have seen the commotion. The word got around just as quick as a wink. It started like a stream then roared like an ocean! Narrated: ‘did you hear about Hettie, yes what do you think? I’ll never invite her to my nest again! She must be a different kind of hen! Eggs should be a light brown or a white! I bet she did something that sure isn’t right! The hens told the farmer that they wouldn’t lay until he moved Hettie the Hen far far away. The pigs and the cows said, don’t move her here. We don’t want something like that here.’ Narrated: Poor Hettie didn’t know what to do. It wasn’t her fault that she layed colored eggs. But now all her friends were afraid of her and wouldn’t have anything to do with her. So she went off by herself to a cold damp part of the barnyard and started make a nest away from all of them. Soon the farmer’s children came out to play and when they saw all the colored eggs Hettie had laid, they were as happy as can be for it was Easter Morning!! And Hettie had laid Easter Eggs! The children ran around quickly and gathered all of Hettie’s eggs and showed them proudly to all of their friends! WOW you should have seene all the animals then. Everyone wanted to be Hettie’s friend. Gee Hettie, lay a green one would you? Yeh Hettie lay a blue one!………… and then the chorus repeats as I included in the beginning.
This is a great little story in time for Easter. It is a story of embracing special talents and gifts each of us have as individuals. It is a story against being prejudice just because someone is different from you. I hope you enjoyed this and look up this little song on YouTube. It is a short, uplifting ditty that will brighten your day. It may even get you singing along to it. It is a very old song. I am not sure of its year of conception. But it could possibly be the from the 50’s but most certainly as early as the 60’s because that is when I first heard it.
Send in your notions and comments to [email protected]. I will include them in the next available column as per their arrival relative to the publication deadline of Tuesday by 12 p.m. of the same week. If you wish to be anonymous let me know. Kindness is contagious~*