C enviroment that can read python occasionally, is micropython what I want?

[microPyforMy]

You can also take a look at LUA (nodemcu) and JavaScript (espruino) -- they are implemented for similar platforms to those on which MicroPython works, and might fit your use case better. And of course there is always that Forth .

Good ideas! And I appreciate it. But...

NodeMCU is a port of eLua but man, there is just no community for that at all. Seems questionable.

Espruino is a whole environment, can't use it to extend C at all, everything is JS and you can extend that with C sort of.

MicroPython in its smallest form would still be 5 times bigger than any C mcu project I've ever done just for some very light scripting.

And Forth.... Forth is like a more confusing assembly. Part of the problem is I'd be the only person who could write scripts for it. Very limiting and even less support than eLua.

[deshipu]

You can always write a compiler from a C-like syntax to Forth-like bytecode. That's actually what Python does.

[pythoncoder]

Would it be feasible to strip MicroPython down further? MicroPython implements Python 3.4. Presumably it could be reduced if it were reduced to a subset along the lines of a much earlier version. Surely easier than specifying a language and writing a compiler from scratch.

I cut my Python teeth (fangs?) on V1.6; you could do a lot with that version. Documentation and language specs are available for early versions e.g. https://docs.python.org/release/1.6/.