Snow Storm

“The snow began to fall again, drifting against the windows, politely begging entrance and then falling with disappointment to the ground."
                                   - Jamie McGuire in Beautiful Disaster


We are in the midst of a major storm. Well, I suppose by now we are at the end of it. The snow has stopped. In Hutchinson where I live it is currently 16 degrees and we have about 16 inches of snow on the ground. I suppose this is appropriate.

I took this photo out my office window yesterday as it was just getting started. This morning I took the one below.

This is in a very protected area between my house and my neighbor's house, which is why it hasn't blown off. The snow stopped after dark tonight so I didn't get a final shot, but it doesn't tell the whole story because there's a limit to how much will stay in place. 

The car tells another part of the story.

Yes, that lump is the car.

I have not been out of my house since early yesterday when I went outside and turned the car around so it was facing out of the driveway, and parked near the sidewalk. I learned that lesson the hard way a few years ago when we had almost two feet of snow. That was in late March and it was a bit of a fluke. We've not had much snow the last couple of years and I have to say I have missed it.

Snow is really beautiful and the last couple of days have been lovely. We even had thunder-snow early the morning. I didn't go to bed until about 4 a.m. because I was watching it snow. Stunningly beautiful.

Although I was already incredibly thankful to be able to work from home, I have been reminded further how delightful it is to be able to work in my home office and not have to go out on days like this. On the downside, I will miss having lunch with Trish tomorrow, but I can't imagine I'll be able to get out of my driveway.

I live on a major street, and it's always a bit ironic that the street will be pretty clear, but those of us who live on it can't get to it. The plows will have piled feet of snow at the ends of our driveways and packed it down quite thoroughly. So, unless we have the superhuman strength to hack through the packed down frozen and refrozen mini-mountains at the end of each drive we are stuck until things clear a bit.

Fortunately, we had plenty of warning this was coming, and I went and grocery shopped a few days ago, so I have plenty of things in the cupboards. Actually, I do at almost anytime, but am even more prepared at the moment. I am getting ready to enjoy someone's cooking other than my own, but I don't think that will be tomorrow. The high is supposed to be around 25 so I imagine most of this will still be with us at dusk tomorrow. We will get up to the freezing mark on Saturday, but there's a possibility for more snow on Sunday. Whatever will be, will be. As long as we keep power, I'm in good shape!

It was an absolutely beautiful snowfall. Just gorgeous. And I'm so thankful to be able to enjoy the falling snow from a warm house, and not need to worry about getting to another office. I am blessed.

I'm going to post a couple of photos that show the progression, just for your amusement.

They're calling it the Blizzard of Oz, and that seems a nice moniker. It has been a wonderful experience, but I'm guessing after another day of it, we're going to be getting a bit weary of not having a change of scenery. I haven't been any further than my front porch.

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Carnival Cruise it's about the Time, not the Money

Carnival Cruise line has been in the news the last few days because of their ship that was stranded for five days, with a full load of passengers, after an engine fire. The problems were numerous, not the least of which was there were no restrooms.

Passengers are complimenting the staff on doing as well as they could under the circumstances. Carnival is paying people's travel expenses home and giving them a refund, plus $500, and another cruise. Those are all wonderful things, but the real problem is that money doesn't compensate people for their time.

It's always about time, and how you're spending it. Most of us would certainly not choose to spend five days on a ship with sewage leaking through the walls. It seems it was far worse in some areas of the ship than others. But I think it's safe to say it's not the vacation anyone expected when they got on board.

This is one of those situations where no one did anything wrong as far as we know. (Cause of the fire is under investigation.) But, nonetheless something went horribly wrong.

Carnival is between a rock and a hard place. They cannot ever replace that time. Regardless of what they do for passengers, it will never buy back those days and nights, that wonderful anticipation of a great time that was dashed, the vacation time people used to take the trip, or the time they spent getting to and from the ship.

It's always about the time. Money can't buy it. Reimbursements can't buy it. Free cruises can't buy it. Time once it's spent, is gone. These folks won't ever get that time back, and Carnival can't appropriately compensate them for it unless they happen to have a time machine lying about.

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Quote of the Day

Television turns the viewer into a bystander whereas a book incorporates readers into the story.

       --- W.C. Jameson
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StoryCorps Creator David Isay at Watermark Books in Wichita

"The soul is contained in the human voice," says David Isay, creator of StoryCorps.

For nearly a decade, StoryCorps has been recording people's lives. They have permanent booths in various locations, and traveling ones that stop around the country, where people can interview someone they love for 40 minutes. The mission is, "to provide Americans of all backgrounds and beliefs with the opportunity to record, share, and preserve the stories of our lives." Isay spoke at Watermark Books in Wichita this week.

Isay explained the booths are designed to create an intimate space. The lighting is low, the interview participants are alone with just a facilitator who keeps notes on the interview as it progresses. "We see every interview as valuable and potentially sacred in people's lives," Isay says. "It's an act of generosity when people come to the booth."

They do take photographs of the participants, but Isay says, "We will never have cameras in the StoryCorps booth." He loves the intimacy and power of the human voice, and said even if they were video interviews he would probably close his eyes to listen to them.

In the reception before the event, Isay mentioned that people are always surprised by something that comes out in the interview, even if it's with someone the person has known all their lives. "The reason people get emotional is that listening is authentic and genuine," said Isay. "Listening to a loved one tells them how much they matter." And it reminds them their stories are important.

The StoryCorps website has a list of questions people can use to do their own interviews with people in their lives, without coming to a booth. They've been gathered over the years as ways to get people to talk about, "the great themes of human existence," says Isay. As you might expect those are love and death, and not career paths.

"The trick is not to wait," he says. StoryCorps has a "National Day of Listening" the day after Thanksgiving, when they encourage people to have these conversations. Of course, it can be done anytime. "It's always an amazing experience to have these conversations," he says. He knows of what he speaks. He says he recorded an interview with his father, and listened to it the first time at 3 a.m. the night his father died.

In the last decade, they've recorded about 50,000 interviews. Each conversation is recorded and the participants walk away with a CD. A second CD is made that goes to the American Folklife Center at the Library of Congress, if the interview participants agree. Isay said more than 99% of people do agree.

I was first introduced to StoryCorps when I worked in public radio. Each week there's a segment on Morning Edition. Now I listen to the podcasts regularly. However, that is not what StoryCorps was designed for. Isay explained that was merely a byproduct. "The real purpose is giving people a chance to have these conversations, to know their stories matter," he says.

They are thrilled to have the Morning Edition segment, but only 1 of every few hundred interviews is edited down to a short segment for the radio. Recently they started doing animations of a few of the stories to appeal to a younger audience. Those are done for about 1 out of every 200 radio segments.

The series has also produced some books, including the latest, "All There Is," which was just released in paperback. This particular one focuses on love stories. All of these things grew out of Isay's passion to get people to record and preserve their stories.

StoryCorps works with about 500 non-profits every year to seek different voices who might not otherwise have an opportunity to record their stories. "For people who feel most silenced ... this is a profound experience," says Isay.

When producing documentaries earlier in his career, Isay gave equipment to teenagers to capture their personal stories. He says he learned as he heard them interview their grandmothers, great aunts and other people in their lives, "the microphone gave a license to have conversations they'd never had before." StoryCorps was an outgrowth of that experience. He now spends most of his time raising money for StoryCorps. "I will devote the rest of my life into growing this, I hope, into a national institution," he says.

He said StoryCorps is about celebrating the American story and being reminded to pay attention. "It's amazing the poetry, the grace, the beauty you can find in people walking down the street if you just take time to listen," he says.

"We're seeing humanity at its best," Isay says about the interviews. "When we do that we're on holy ground," he says. StoryCorps teaches us about humanity and the importance of listening. "One of the lessons of StoryCorps is to be in the present and take time to say things to people we love," he says.



Greg was kind enough to take this photo of me with Dave Isay, who was incredibly personable and pleasant.

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Chocolate Tasting at Holy Cross

It has been a few years since I first started seeing references to chocolate tastings. But, there was never one near me, so I couldn't go. Although it didn't seem as wonderful as going to tea, I still thought it seemed like a great way to spend a little time.

Well, last weekend I finally got to go to one. Unbeknownst to me, it has been happening in the town where I live for five years prior to this one. And I've never known about it.




I consider myself to be pretty "in the know" so I'm not sure how I could have missed this. When I mentioned I hadn't known about it, the response was that there had been a big story in the newspaper a year or two ago. But, I had missed that, so I hadn't known.

I know a lot of people in town. I even know people who attend church there. No one had mentioned it. This leads me to question if they really want outsiders to attend, but everyone was very welcoming and engaging. I think it's just a case of believing that a story in the newspaper is all you need to do for publicity for any event. It's not, if you want to engage a broad audience.

The newspaper is great, and I actually learned about this through The Bee, an entertainment publication of the local newspaper. But a Facebook page would have been helpful. Asking people who go to church there to share it around on Facebook would have probably brought in a few more people. Some flyers around town at Third Thursday, a downtown art and music event that happens each month. So many options, most of which are free.

I went to their website and from there connected to their Facebook page, to discover they didn't even promote it on their own page. Why? Why not spread the word?

How many more cool things am I missing? This one I now have on my calendar for next year! If you want to put it on yours, mark the first Saturday in February.



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Nine Things You Should Stop Posting on Facebook

Facebook is wonderful for staying in touch with people from all stages of our lives. It's also easy to over-share. This is not about frat party photos by college students - it's about grown-up people forgetting they're in a public space, not a private one.

The first thing to remember is that if you are ultra-concerned about your privacy, you should not be on Facebook in the first place. You can read about deactivating/deleting your account here: https://www.facebook.com/help/224562897555674/

If you do plan to remain on Facebook, you should stop posting the following:

1. Anything that can be debunked by Snopes.com. This includes, but is not limited to, privacy settings on Facebook and where to send Christmas cards to soldiers. Please, spend your time investigating it on snopes instead of continuing to clutter Facebook with this spam.

2. Your dirty laundry. If you feel the need to offer someone an ultimatum, explain how you're just not going to put up with their foolishness anymore, or any other such thing, please do it privately. The rest of us do not need to be involved. This does not make you look strong, it makes you look desperate for validation. Your friends who jump in to offer support do not look like kind, caring individuals, they look like people who have a co-dependency problem. Healthy people do not do these things. It's not flattering. Remember this is a public space.

3. Naked photos of your children. You may think that shot of them in the bathtub is really cute, but the rest of us feel uncomfortable seeing it. Yes, maybe that indicates our society is all messed up, but it's just the way it is. The only people who aren't uncomfortable with it, other than you and their grandma, are pedophiles. 

4.  One post right after another, so you're effectively taking over someone's wall. This is NOT welcome.

5. Photos that demonstrate how much alcohol you consume. If you're at the restaurant in Puerto Rico where the Pina Colada was invented, it's understandable you'd want to post a photo of it. That tells us you travel to interesting places. Two dozen empty glasses on the table tells us you have a drinking problem. Your co-workers, clients, bosses or mother do not need to believe a cluster of empty glasses/bottles/cans is the most interesting thing you have to share about your life.

6. Shared photos or status updates from pages with obscene names. Unless you would use the F-word in a conversation with anyone on your friends list, don't do it on Facebook, even by proxy. This is an easy mistake to make, unfortunately, but do pay attention. People will forgive the occasional lapse, but it's something to definitely not make a habit of.

7. Tags that are not accurate. Do not tag people in photos in which they do not appear. The people you're tagging will be annoyed with you. Their friends who go to look for them in the photos will be annoyed with both of you. None of this will earn you any good will. 

8. Complaints about Facebook. No one is forcing you to be on Facebook. You shouldn't do things that stress you out that much.

9. Photos taken in the bathroom. It's private space. Anything that's private shouldn't be posted on Facebook.

Facebook is a public space, so treat it as such.

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Sweet Honey in the Rock

Sweet Honey in the Rock was performing in North Newton on Saturday evening and I went with some friends. It was in an older gym/auditorium with a balcony. That's where we chose to sit and arrived early enough I was able to snap this photo of the rows of chairs.

The performance was quite wonderful, including a couple of numbers that were really moving. I kept hoping they would sing Leonard Cohen's "Hallelujah." I think it would be a great number for them.

That concert was the wrap up to a Saturday that also included a chocolate tasting at a local church. It has been going on for five years previously and I've never heard of it. I consider myself pretty tuned in, but that had certainly escaped my attention.

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