Spring Green
The rugged hills of Vermont look down upon a quaint Village called Cavendish. Its most famous citizen, the brown-bearded Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, the Russian dissident, lives just downhill from the Parson family, the Story’s main characters. Mother and father Parsons have twins: seven-year-old Betsy and William. Today, on the first of May, each are attending a May Day celebration at Greven Park. After the children have eaten their breakfast, their mother makes sure that each has their cute little May Day baskets to give to their assigned classmate partner as dad quietly toils on the family farm.
Upon arriving at school, the entire first-grade class loads up on the School Bus to frolic about at Greven Park. As they walk onto the Park’s baseball field, they see a pastel-colored, crepe-papered pole with a grand total of nine arms laying gently in a circle around the centered apparatus. Outside the baseball’s left field fence winds the Great Brook that twists and turns through town that eventually meets up with the rambunctious Ominous Black River.
The Principal and the school administrative staff chaperone the rambunctious youth as they scamper to and from beneath the late morning sun. One gets the feeling that the “Rite of Spring” has taken hold of the day as birds chirp, bees buzz, and butterflies flitter about above the Brook’s swirling waters.
Mark Schoedl was born in Racine, Wisconsin in July of 1960. From a youth to a young man, he cherished the things “all Wisconsin.” From the change of seasons to Wisconsin football, he closely held onto the state’s traditions while secretly questioning everything behind the scenes.
Mark Schoedl was born in Racine, Wisconsin in July of 1960. From a youth to a young man, he cherished the things “all Wisconsin.” From the change of seasons to Wisconsin football, he closely held onto the state’s traditions while secretly questioning everything behind the scene.
Mark Schoedl’s love for writing was ignited by two childhood teachers who saw a spark in his words, a spark that brought life to the page. This early recognition fueled his passion for writing, even when the world seemed to turn a blind eye. His college years were marked by struggle as he grappled with the rigid standards of the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater Business School. But in the face of adversity, Mark found solace in the English Department. The works of literary giants like Shakespeare, Marlowe, Johnson, and Dryden offered him refuge from the economic theories of Keynes and Friedman.
Despite facing resistance from an English professor who tried to suppress his short stories, Mark persevered. He continued to write, even when his pencil artwork and pastel work were lost in a friend’s stolen box truck. With nothing left but his writing abilities, he turned adversity into opportunity. In 2012, he published two children’s books, “A Place in the Sun” and “It’s a New Day,” drawing inspiration from Aesop.
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