Thinking

I had my first salad out of the garden today. It was a small salad, but good, with some arugula, sorrel and salad burnet, combined with some feta cheese and pine nuts. I needed to do something grounding today so worked in the garden a little bit.

This has been a weird day for those of us who live near Wichita. Dr. George Tiller was shot and killed in his church this morning. He has been targeted by abortion opponents for years, and been a victim of attempted murder, but it's a shock nonetheless.

I found out about this shortly after Greg called to tell me his Aunt died this morning She was a nun in retirement in Omaha. I'm so very proud of Greg for heading to Omaha when she started fading. He was with her when she passed and I'm so glad he was there. I know he will be glad he went. It is an honor to attend the dying.

Tonight, there was a shooting in a small town north of here. Details are sketchy but it appears two people are dead in that incident.

All of this makes me think about how important it is to live fully every day. I'm guessing Dr. Tiller wasn't thinking it could be his last day on Earth when he was getting ready for church this morning. None of us ever know. In "The Geography of Bliss," someone gives the author the advice to contemplate his own death 10 minutes every day. I assume the idea is that you will then be aware of its possibility and live more fully.

I haven't been out of my house today other than to my backyard. It has just been a day when I didn't want to mix with other folks very much. I have to try to make sense of things on my own, I guess. So I've worked around the house and read and thought.

I'm working on making new dreams for myself, just as I suggested to a friend. It seems so easy, and yet there are so many layers to it. But it's definitely time for me to be doing that, too. So much to think about.
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Dr. George Tiller Shot and Killed in Wichita

Dr. George Tiller was shot and killed at his church this morning in Wichita. He was pronounced dead at the scene, according to news reports from KAKE. Dr. Tiller, who performed abortions, was a controversial figure in the abortion debate and had been a victim of attempts on his life before.

I will never understand why anyone with an "all life is precious" belief thinks murder is an appropriate way to demonstrate that.

When you whip people into a frenzy over any topic, some of them will go too far with it.  I don't think there has ever been a case of a person with a pro-choice mindset killing someone with a pro-life mindset because of their beliefs. What is happening in the pro-choice movement that results in this dramatic reaction?

My sympathies to the family and friends of Dr. Tiller.
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Make New Dreams

"Make new dreams" is the advice I gave to a friend a few years ago, and repeated the other night, in response to a question she asked. It sounds so simple. It's three words. How complex can it be? Right?

Well, maybe...

Dreams are tricky. They often come true. And only then do you realize they're not all they're cracked up to be. Anyone who has fallen out of love can attest to that. It's a shock when we get something we've wanted and discover what we've been dreaming about doesn't hold up in reality.

So... what to do? Make new dreams.

I honestly can't think of any other option. Without a dream you just pass through the days without really experiencing them.

I'm busy making new dreams, myself, lately. They're just taking shape now, but I'll keep you posted as they develop.
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Appreciating Disappearing Scenes

I took a long drive yesterday. I was out and about anyway and I just needed some time to think. There's something magic about the steering wheel. It seems to engage different parts of the brain and I can think things through as the miles pass.

Yesterday I was thinking about things that are disappearing from our world. One of those is cattle grazing in a field. It's becoming rare. They're almost always crammed into a feed lot where a particular diet can quickly fatten them up for slaughter.

I'm not sure when that change happened, exactly. I just became aware that it had - past tense. It makes me wonder what I'll be longing to see again five years from now that is commonplace today. I hope I'm appreciating whatever it is.

I guess that's always the trick - to be appreciating what is right in front of us.
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Rural Tourism Training

I took the day off today to work with Marci and WenDee at a training for rural tourism folks. It was such a  cool experience to be involved in a Kansas Sampler project.

My part of the day was to show folks how to blog, and a quick overview of Facebook and Twitter. It was so incredibly cool to see folks willing to jump in and give things a go. There's so much potential for rural Kansas to use these tools to tell people what there is to see and do.

Marci refers to folks who are willing to "do dirt" to see what's on the backroads as having an "explorer" mindset. Explorer types want to experience the local culture, whatever it is. I can't imagine traveling any other way, myself.

I was so jazzed that after the event, I did a little exploring myself where I caught this little bit of nature.


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Curtis Cafe in Stafford Kansas

The Curtis Cafe in Stafford, Kansas, is well worth a stop. In fact, it's worth making a special trip for.



Ruth is the third generation to run the place, and her sons are learning the business now so hopefully it will be four generations.

Her mother's presence is still very much alive in the Curtis Cafe. The walls in both rooms are covered with puzzles she put together.



Ruth told me there are more than 400 of them on the walls, and her mother always told people that she never bought one. People would give them to her so the subject matter varies dramatically.

The puzzles are interspersed with other tidbits, including some needlework and some newspaper clippings. Occasionally you'll see a poster tacked up over a puzzle, as if the puzzle is the wallpaper.



Ruth said her mother kept a puzzle table set up and she would invite customers to add a piece - particularly strangers that might happen upon the cafe.

It's a place well worth a visit. My breakfast total was $5.05 with tax. It included bacon - real bacon fried in a pan, hash browns - that had something to do with a potato in their recent past, and toast. I had them hold the eggs since I don't like eggs, so they reduced my ticket to compensate for that. But, the meal complete with eggs is still a bargain - $5.45 before tax.





Make plans for a visit soon. I didn't get to sample it myself, but I understand there is homemade pie!



I was kind of sorry there wasn't a table where this stranger could add a puzzle piece, but I guess progress comes to every establishment and those days have passed.
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Check www.patsyterrell.com for the blog, art, cooking and more. Find me on Facebook, Twitter, Plurk and other social media sites of your choosing.

All text and photos on this website are copyright Patsy Terrell, unless otherwise noted. All rights reserved. None are to be used without permission. Thank you.

A day

Wow... This day has been a full one. I've barely stopped to breathe today and my new day starts in four and a half hours. But much was accomplished today. Now it's time for a little sleep. Yes even I need some time to snooze.