Creative Sisterhood

All six of us were here for Creative Sisterhood, which was nice. It has been rare we've all been able to make it in the last year or so. Seems like people are headed in so many different directions these days.

Teresa, Julie and I talked until about 1 a.m. It was really good to connect with them. We covered a lot of topics we didn't get to during our time as a full group. It used to be common that some of us would stay quite late, but we hadn't done that in awhile. It is always good to be with this group.

Generally, I make some sort of baked goodie, but tonight I just popped a bunch of popcorn and made lemonade. It was nice for a change.

Dorothy and I had lunch at Roy's today. That makes two days in a row for me. I may well make it three days in a row. You can never have too much Roy's - at least that's what I tell myself.

It was good to talk to Dorothy. We're always trying to figure out how to make this a more welcoming community. We go back and forth. I keep thinking if I just ask the RIGHT question I'll figure it all out. It always feels like I'm just one question away. For some reason this has become my mission, to figure out the reasons people here don't connect in the same way as they do where I come from. It's as if this is the lab and I'm trying to figure out the answer to the question. No luck, so far. Dorothy is a trooper, though - she answers questions and I think and then we switch places. Maybe one day... one day... one day the answer will magically appear. If so, I'll be blogging about it ad infinitum.

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Caught in Our Own Webs

It seems I, and some of the folks I know, are caught in our own webs these days. We're stuck in the sameness of everyday life. I can't get the image of a fly stuck in a spider web out of my mind. No matter how much he struggles, he's still stuck. That's how I feel.

I need more energy to break free. I know it's possible, but it seems an overwhelming task to free myself of the things holding me back. It will take some magic as well as some mastery.

I suppose this is just one more thing to conquer. Breaking Free. Freedom. What I desperately desire.
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Summer

This little vase in front with the Cinnamon Basil is one of my recent thrift store purchases. I don't recall, but the one in back probably came from another trip.

Summer seems to be waning here, even though it's only mid-August. In just a few weeks it will be State Fair time, which heralds the beginning of fall for me. It seems this season has gone so fast.

Frankly, it seems like life is going fast. I'm trying to get as much from every day as possible, but feel I'm failing.

In no time at all I'll be putting up the Christmas tree and preparing for the season. Things will be moving in high gear. Why does it seem things are always in high gear?

I long to have time to write and paint and think, without worry about work and money and time.
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Check www.patsyterrell.com for the blog, art, and more. Friend me on Facebook.com, Follow me at Twitter.com.

Kansas Dialogue

Kansas Dialogue was in Kansas City, Kansas this year. Our hosts arranged for our opening evening to be at the Strawberry Hill Museum, which afforded this view of downtown Kansas City. I'm sorry we didn't get there in time to see the museum.

I'm so glad I went to Dialogue. The theme was about neighborhoods, and some wonderful discussions ensued.

I was asked to present about "new" neighborhoods and barely scratched the surface. I don't think I even mentioned myspace or LinkedIn if that tells you how much I scratched the surface. I was amused at the irony that the night before I was at the desk in the hotel, arranging my thoughts about these new technological neighborhoods by the old fashioned note card method.



There's something about being able to rearrange thoughts physically that I like. Not sure what that's about, but there it is. I'm also very fond of using post-it-notes in much the same fashion. I did, however, make notes for my speech on the computer the next morning. Fortunately, the Hilton Garden Inn where we were staying had free printing in their business center. A nice perk.

Kris and I didn't get around to taking our "cute girl pic" until this morning. I don't look my best the day after a full day of sessions and very little sleep. But, there you go. You'd think at some point I'd catch on to the idea that I could just not put the photos up. So far, that seems to have escaped me. This little photo tradition got started a couple of years ago I think.

Kansas Dialogue is an off-the-record conversation so I'm very careful to only talk about my own thoughts, and would not reveal anyone who was attending without their permission. Obviously, Kris is cool with it, and the website shares that the topic was neighborhoods, so that's not speaking out of turn. It was a really interesting weekend and it reminded me of a number of things I've written about here in the past.

This I Believe
Dr. Robert Putnam's Lecture about "Bowling Alone"
Beverly Morgan Welch of the African American Museum

One of the best things about dialogue is reconnecting with folks from across the state. There are some folks involved I would love to see more often. This time we had quite a few new people that were wonderful additions to the event. I'm hoping they want to return. I'm eager to do it again.
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Kansas Dialogue Weekend

This is Kansas Dialogue Weekend and it has been my favorite so far of the six I've been to. Kansas Dialogue is an opportunity to gather with people from around the state and have an off-the-record conversation about issues affecting us. The theme this year is "Neighborhoods."

I spoke this morning about "new neighborhoods," referring to online ways of making community. I just glossed over a lot of things, and didn't get nearly as in-depth as I would have liked, but overall it went well I think. There's so much to that topic once you start thinking about it.

I haven't had a chance to really visit with some of the folks I generally see at Kansas Dialogue every  year. It's funny how those things work out - some years you just go in different directions I guess. There are some new folks this time - fascinating people. And our hosts are doing an exceptional job of having everything run smoothly.

There are some people here I don't see any other time of year and I wish I did. I find more than a couple of the people here to be folks I could visit with for many hours and never tire of talking with them.

It would be so cool to have a meetup/conversation with blog readers, but I think it would be a difficult thing to organize. Folks are pretty spread out. But it sure would be fun...

The Journey by Mary Oliver

I was reading some poetry recently and ran across this by Mary Oliver. I haven't read anything by her I haven't liked.

I don't write poetry, and don't even read a lot of poetry, but I've learned to appreciate the turn of phrase that only a master of the language can produce.

I love the last few lines of this poem. They really resonate with me on multiple levels.

The Journey
by Mary Oliver

One day you finally knew
what you had to do, and began,
though the voices around you
kept shouting
their bad advice--
though the whole house
began to tremble
and you felt the old tug
at your ankles.
"Mend my life!"
each voice cried.
But you didn't stop.
You knew what you had to do,
though the wind pried
with its stiff fingers
at the very foundations,
though their melancholy
was terrible.
It was already late
enough, and a wild night,
and the road full of fallen
branches and stones.
But little by little,
as you left their voices behind,
the stars began to burn
through the sheets of clouds,
and there was a new voice
which you slowly
recognized as your own,
that kept you company
as you strode deeper and deeper
into the world,
determined to do
the only thing you could do--
determined to save
the only life you could save.

Photos are a Window to the Past

This photo is of my mom, Mary Lea Myatt Terrell, on the right, and my dad's sister Margorie LaVerne Terrell Duffany Gordon on the left. I'm guessing it was taken in about 1937 because during the flooding that year my mom's family moved out of the Barlow Kentucky river bottoms to higher ground and happened to move to land owned by my dad's family. My dad was working as a mechanic in Paducah, Kentucky at the time and when the water came over the flood gates there, he moved the thirty miles south, home to Ballard County, and that's when my mom and dad met. They were married in January of 1938.

Aunt LaVerne lived in California by the time I came along twenty plus years later, but moved back to Kentucky in my early teen years. Her son, Tim, was just a year or so older than me and I loved going up to Stella, Kentucky, where they lived.

You may wonder why the Kentucky Historical Society banner is on it. It's because some years ago they did a project called "An Ohio River Portrait," which is one of the coolest things I've ever seen. They traveled along the river and copied photos people brought in all along the way. I made a trip back to Kentucky just for that, and even produced some oral history interviews for them, as well as was interviewed myself. They also interviewed Mama.

I ran across this photo by accident when I was googling myself. I may share some more here in the coming months. Of course, I still have the photos, but they're locked away in a safety deposit box and not easily accessible. Conveniently, The Kentucky Historical Society has made them easy to access. And they've retouched them so they're clearer, too.

I'm so thankful to have photos that offer a little glimpse into other lives.
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Check www.patsyterrell.com for the blog, art, and more. Friend me on Facebook.com, Follow me at Twitter.com.