All Will Be Revealed!

The correct answer - in other words the big fat lie - in my list was the one about swimming with sharks. I love to swim but I'm so terrified of sharks that the whole exercise is hardly worth it when swimming in warm waters! All others are absolutely true. Elizabeth Spann Craig - you are the one and only smart cookie in the jar!
The rest - bwhahahah fooled yuh! Let me elaborate...

1. Swept an elephant - when I was thirteen and lived in Oakville, Ontario, a very small circus came to town. They had an Indian Elephant and I really wanted to quit school and join this circus. They were too smart to let me but they did give me a broom and tell me that she (the elephant) liked nothing better than a good sweep with a broom. My that dust did fly!


2. I shook hands with Jimi Hendrix. - Jimi performed at a theatre in Ottawa, Ontario. It was 1969 and I went with my husband and four friends to L'Hibou Coffee House to hear Joni Mitchell (a fairly regular gig for her). Jimi came to Hibou after his concert and was taping her. I said to my friends -'that's Jimi Hendrix' nah, they said but I went over and introduced myself and I'm really glad I did.

3. I was a high-lead logger in British Columbia. I moved to BC with my second husband and he logged there for a company. I and a friend spent about six or seven months trying to get hired as road crew but they didn't want to hire women. We started a Human Rights case and they gave us jobs. I was a 'choker-bunny' which means I wrapped enormous chains around fallen trees. There is a lot to this but too much for here! It is high-lead logging as compared with cat-logging as it uses a spar which holds the cables high up for mountain logging.
4. I streaked through a university pub wearing nothing but a shamrock. - yep, about 36 years ago on St. Patrick's Day at Carleton University, I and one other woman streaked the pub. We were annoyed that all the streakers to date had been men and didn't understand why women who seemed to allow themselves to be objectified didn't embrace this fun and liberating movement! I don't ever need to do it again though!
5. I was snorkeling in Cuba and came face to face with a (smallish) shark. - BIG FAT LIE.
6. I fell into the bottomless pit at Carlesbad Caverns and was saved by my dad grabbing my Mary Maxim sweater (thanks Dad! Thanks Aunt Beth for knitting with steel fibre!) - yes, this is true. I was about 11 or so and we were visiting the caverns and my dad and I were blabbing away at where we'd put the band when we turned it into a night club when I tripped. Jude (my sister) says I didn't fall 'into' the pit but I say I did. My dad grabbed the sweater - tears were averted.
7. I carried a teapot onto a stage for Allen Ginsberg. - a number of years ago (10 or more) the larger Shambhala (Buddhist) community held a celebration of much importance. People came from all over the world and we had lots of artistic offereings. One of them was the wonderful poet Allen Ginsberg. I was part of the staff organizing the events and I carried his teapot behind him as he went on stage. I felt so honoured and do to this day! At one point he gave me a kiss and a hug and his shoulders were just like my mother's. Something that sounds absurd but was tremendously touching for me.
So there you have it - you now know weird and whacky things about me...but no sharks. Ick!