NPR's Jackie Lyden

Jackie Lyden, host of "All Things Considered" each weekend on National Public Radio was in Hutchinson today for a presentation. She spoke at the Hutchinson Town Club as part of the Prairie View Food For Thought Series.

She read from her book, "Daughter of the Queen of Sheba," and told stories about growing up with a mother who was suffering from a mental illness. She said, "Long before radio existed for me as a vessel in which to pour all these life experiences, I was a daughter." And that relationship shaped her world view in many ways.

Lyden said she was a diarist from the time she could write, and that she wrote on anything. I asked after her speech if she still wrote by hand, and she said yes, that she doesn't go anywhere without her journal. She said, "My leather notebook goes everywhere I go. I believe in pen and paper."

Lyden said part of the appeal of writing this book about her mother was, "I wanted to fix her on the page." She said she felt if she could get down to the tap root of what was wrong, she could pull it out.

She said her mother's delusions would eventually turn dark and her mother kept a notebook about them called, "The Evil Account." While not knowing how her mother would be from one day to the next was difficult, Lyden said the experiences taught her,  "Nobody's imagination is garbage. It tells you where people are."



Working as a foreign correspondent, Lyden has interacted with people in many different kinds of situations. She told the story of a man telling her he couldn't leave a dangerous situation because, "If I leave now I will lose all my family history." She said that stuck with her, and reminded her people are similar everywhere. Holding her fingers a couple of inches apart, she said, "The line between Hutchinson, Kansas, and Fallujah, Iraq, is this big." She said, "When I tell stories on the radio, I'm looking to make that human connection."

Lyden said that no matter where she went, she had something no one else had, a faded photograph of her mother in a dress made specially for her in Hong Kong in 1950. Lyden has the dress and wears it on special occasions. She said, "I don't know where I'll be, but wherever I go, I will carry the photograph of the woman in this dress. Then I think what you carry the most is their story."

She said when she discovered NPR, she saw there was an opportunity for creativity and imagination. She said, "Radio entered me like a wave." And on the radio, as a host, she could be the voice of all the people she had had conversation with.

When asked about why mental health still has so much stigma attached to it, she said, "Until we understand that we are just molecules and that brain chemistry is chemistry and we are a little more humble about being human ... then we are going to have difficulty with something like stigma. Because to not be in control of your faculties is to not be perfect. And we are a culture that believes in perfection of the mortal."

She said she's very close to her mother and this is probably the happiest time they've ever had together. "My mom is fun. My mom is funny and smart." She said the great tragedy of her mother's life was not that she had a mental illness, but that she didn't have an education. Last year her mother read four dozen books, and is currently reading "My Antonia."



She said her mother's view of the book Lyden wrote about her has changed depending on her mother's mental state. She said now that her mother is better, the book is painful, but she is proud of it because, "She feels her struggles are not for nothing."

One of Lyden's sisters asked why they couldn't just move on and try to forget all of this, leaving it in the past. Lyden answered that, "Memory is what makes us human. Memory is the human connection. It's what gives us soul."
________________
Check www.patsyterrell.com for the blog, art, and more. Friend me on facebook.com. Follow me at twitter.com.

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

The Itty Bitty Bud

Yesterday I saw it. Just innocently sitting there. As if it were nothing special at all. Just another day.

One of the cosmos plants has a tiny little bud on it!

An itty bitty bud. On a plant I grew from seed. From seed, I tell you. I put the seed in the dirt and now there's a bud that will be a flower. (OK, technically, I put the seed in a potting "mix" but it's like dirt. Kinda.)

I realize I might be a bit overly excited by this development. A person might rightly point out that it would be expected that a flower would - at some point in its development - put forth a bud. But nonetheless, there it is. Just as plain as day. If you look closely. Very closely. It is an itty bitty bud, after all.

It's not like I've never grown anything from seed before, but it's still a magical process to me. Seeds become itty bitty buds. Amazing.
________________
Check www.patsyterrell.com for the blog, art, and more. Friend me on facebook.com. Follow me at twitter.com.

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

Susan Boyle

Every once in awhile, there's a You Tube video from Britian's Got Talent that is really cool. The latest is Susan Boyle, who wowed the judges, including both Simon and Piers. It's worth your 7:07 minutes to go watch it. Click on the link above - they're not allowing embedding, which I never understand, but nonetheless, go give it a watch and listen.
________________
Check www.patsyterrell.com for the blog, art, and more. Friend me on facebook.com. Follow me at twitter.com. All text and photos on this website are copyright Patsy Terrell, unless otherwise noted. None are to be used without permission. Thank you.

Rain on Easter Sunday

I've been gathering images of flowers dripping with rain on Easter Sundays for many years now. The first one I recall noticing was when I was a TV reporter and the producer sent a photographer and me out to a sunrise service. He took some gorgeous video of a daffodil bent under the weight of the raindrops clinging to it. I used it as the opening shot with the minister's voice saying, "It was raining that morning, too."

I don't know the Bible well, but I don't recall a weather report of that Sunday morning so many years ago being included. Of course, I'm guessing the minister had more information than me. And he may have been using that as a metaphor as well. Regardless, it has stuck with me all these years.

I've had a very laid back Easter Sunday. I slept in, which felt nice, and then stayed in bed reading, writing and thinking for awhile before I got up. I did a few things around the house and then went to Sharon's. We had a nice, although non-traditional, Easter dinner and then I worked on some computer things for her. As I was leaving I couldn't resist photos of her tulips.

There's something magical about a rainy day. It's as if the world is being washed clean so we can all start anew. That seems an appropriate image for an Easter Sunday.

On a personal level, I've really been feeling the need for a fresh start, a renewal, this spring. I think maybe that's part of why I'm enjoying starting so many seeds this year. Watching life spring from a tiny seed reaffirms my belief in miracles, as if I needed any more proof of them these days.

I'm also feeling a need for "nest building" lately. Having a new lease on life - literally - gives me reason to want to make my daily life all the more pleasant. And part of that is making my home the way I want it to be.

I hope your Easter Sunday was all you wanted it to be, and then some. And may  this season of renewal bring us all hope beyond what our imaginations can fathom.



________________
Check www.patsyterrell.com for the blog, art, and more. Friend me on facebook.com. Follow me at twitter.com.

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.

Happy Easter

Easter is a time of hope and renewal.
May your day be blessed.

________________
Check www.patsyterrell.com for the blog, art, and more. Friend me on facebook.com. Follow me at twitter.com. All text and photos on this website are copyright Patsy Terrell, unless otherwise noted. None are to be used without permission. Thank you.

A Busy but Fun Saturday

The highlight of my day was lunch with Tara and her mother in law, Gail. I met Tara during a "Food Coma Caravan" organized by Carl. I really liked her and her husband, Todd, right away. They live in Kansas City so we don't get to see each other very often. But, we had dinner a few months ago when they were in Hutchinson visiting family, and we keep up on Facebook.

Someone forwarded Gail a note about my blog entry on the doggie Easter parade, and she remembered that I knew Tara. So, Gail asked Tara if she wanted to see if we could get together while Tara and Todd were visiting in Wichita this weekend, and voila it all worked out with perfect timing because I was open from 11-1 today. It was so fun to see Tara and meet Gail.

This morning I went to a workshop on vegetable gardening at the Extension office. It was a primer, I guess you'd say, but I picked up some good tips. It was done by Pam, the royal subject of one of the winners in the doggie Easter parade. Hazel, who shared Portabello the kitty with me at the shelter, was helping out this morning, too. Of course, there were some other folks there I knew, including Jessica and Trish and Jim, but I didn't really get to visit because I had to slip out a little early to get to Skaets for lunch with Tara and Gail.

After lunch we all headed out to the Salt Museum. I was volunteering this afternoon and they were going for a visit. Todd, and Gail's husband, Steve, came over separately and they all met up at the museum. It just so happened they were on my first tour of the day so I got to visit with them briefly underground, too.

Needless to say, it was a busy day for me, with something on the schedule from 9-5, but it had lots of fun. And tonight I finally got my taxes done. I filed the federal online and have the state ready to mail. I'm so glad to have that off my list of things to do. I've joked that I've spent more time whining about doing them than it would have taken to actually do them. Unfortunately, that was not true. They took me about 2 1/2 hours. But, at least I'm getting a little money back instead of owing, so that's a bonus.

I have some other things on my agenda yet this weekend that I want to accomplish. I have a lot to catch up on in the house. A lot. In every nook and cranny. I also have a pile of computer-related things to do. I hope I feel like I've got a handle on things by the end of the weekend. We'll see how that goes.
________________
Check www.patsyterrell.com for the blog, art, and more. Friend me on facebook.com. Follow me at twitter.com.

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

Friday

I was so glad to wake up to a Friday today. This has been a frantic week in some ways and has had its share of disappointments tossed in for good measure, so I'm ready to have a nice weekend. I've got a slew of things on the agenda this weekend, but most of them will be fun, including lunch with Tara from Kansas City tomorrow. That's an unexpected treat.

Trish and I had lunch today and it was good to visit with her. I never see enough of her. We're both going to a gardening presentation in the morning so I'll see her two days in a row, which is kind of unusual.

After work today Greg and I decided to get a quick bite at Quizno's. While we were finishing up Barbara came in so we got to visit with her a little bit. Greg took this photo of me while we were there.



I was laughing tonight, looking at it, because he took another photo of me a year or two ago at another restaurant where you can see my water glass. I noticed in this one I have the phone, too. People sometimes tease me about always having the phone handy and I guess there's officially proof now.

Last night sometime between 2 and 3 a.m., Greg called and told me to go look at the snow. Snow, I asked, a little groggy? Yes, snow. We had quite a rain storm last night and it was still raining when I went to bed. Then the snow started. It was snowing and raining at the same time. I don't think I've ever seen that before.

I was glad Greg called me, and glad I came downstairs to see the snow. It was big, fluffy flakes - just like those that made the blizzard for us a couple of weeks ago. Fortunately, there was no accumulation this time, but it was something to see. I snapped a photo from my front porch.



You can tell the sidewalks are wet from the rain. There are even some puddles. And then the snow.

Also on the agenda this weekend, in addition to fun, is getting my taxes done and getting my house presentable. I'm not sure why I put off doing my taxes every year. They're so easy it takes me well under an hour. But, apparently, I prefer to whine about them on Facebook and in real life for far more hours than it would take to just do them.

I'm having Creative Sisterhood here Tuesday night so I want to get the house presentable. I tell you, you literally do nothing to your house for two months, you end up with a lot to do. I still don't bend and stay bent for very long, but I certainly feel like making some basic improvements to the general cleanliness level. I've never been a Martha Stewart type, so I'm keeping my expectations reasonable. That means, in this case, it will still involve piles of things here and there. I can't help it. I'm a person who has piles.

Well, the 9 a.m. gardening presentation I'm headed to in the morning is only a few hours away. I'd best get a little sleep between now and then. I hope you're having a wonderful Easter weekend so far.
________________
Check www.patsyterrell.com for the blog, art, and more. Friend me on facebook.com. Follow me at twitter.com.

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

Your Purpose in Life

I was talking with a friend today who expressed that she was trying to figure out her purpose in life. I've never thought about it in those exact terms, but I guess we're all doing that to some degree.

Do you consciously think about what your purpose is? I can't say that I do. I know when I'm living within it though, by how I feel. The trick, as always, is how to live that purpose, and yet manage all the necessities of life as well. If I could figure that out, I could be living my purpose all day.

I've been thinking all evening about how I would define my purpose. I'm not sure I have words for it, exactly. But, it seems a worthy goal to find some. Time to put pen to paper for that one.
________________
Check www.patsyterrell.com for the blog, art, and more. Friend me on facebook.com. Follow me at twitter.com.

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

Qi gong in the Park

Terry called this evening and asked if I wanted to meet him in Avenue A Park and do some qi gong. It's an ancient form of exercise/meditation, similar to tai chi but less strenuous. Terry teaches it at a couple of local centers. He and Sharon both teach tai chi, too.

At first I was hesitant because I had already worked in my back yard and was feeling it. But, Terry assured me it wouldn't require a lot of the things that still make me hurt - like bending. So, I decided it was a wonderful way to spend some time with a friend, and be out enjoying the sunshine.

I called Greg to see if he wanted to go and Sharon was at his house so we all went.

Terry gave Greg and me a private lesson, and Sharon did it along with us, which was great because we had two people who knew what they were doing to watch. I really liked it.

We did the "Eight pieces of silk brocade" series - at least I think I've got the right name. There are eight series of movements and you do each one eight times. Terry explained each one and then did them so we could follow along. I was able to do all of them except one that involved bending over and touching your toes then slowly coming upright again. I did one of those and decided that was not a way my body wants to move quite yet.

I'm hoping we can do it again soon. I guess there are lots of different practices you can do, but this is one of the common ones and pretty easy to do. I don't think I could do anything much more complex than this one. It stretched my limits on coordination.



Avenue A Park is such a cool part of our city. The water flows under Main Street and the park is beautifully landscaped. I love the fact that some long-time businesses, like Midwest Feed, are part of the scenery there.
________________

Subscribe for free to Patsy's Ponderings in email or your choice of a reader.



Check www.patsyterrell.com for the blog, art, cooking and more. Friend me on facebook.com. Follow me at twitter.com.
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.

Easter, Spring and Gardens

At the flea market this weekend, I bought this metal basket, decorated with these metal flowers. I'm not sure why, other than it's Easter season, which makes one think of baskets, and it was a dollar and it's got that pink and gold combo from the 50s that has started to appeal to me in a big way. Lately I've been thinking - just thinking - about redoing my kitchen to incorporate those colors. However, I doubt that will happen anytime soon. Or ever.

Hard to believe Easter is just a few days away. Greg's mom invited me to come to Joplin for the holiday, but I can't leave all my little plants. They would need definitely need water before I got back. They're drinking it up at a prodigious rate.

My only Easter decoration is this little bunny I got last year who is residing on my desk. I had hoped to do an Easter tree outside, but after the blizzard, my tree's leaves are all brown - not very spring like. I don't think brightly colored, plastic Easter eggs would overcome the brown.

Today was a beautiful day - sunny and warm. I spent most of it hunched over paperwork and the computer screen finishing up the United Way application. But after 5 I was able to start working on my back yard a little bit. I hadn't even removed the dead plants from last year. The tomato cages were still in place, with the remains of tomatoes long gone with them. I pulled those out and managed to get a little bit of other stuff out.

The lemon balm is growing, the sage has some green on it, and some of the lavender is starting to come in, too. I am so eager to have fresh food growing in the back yard again. I love the early mornings in the summer. Nothing like going out in the back yard while the dew is still wet, and seeing what's happening in the garden.

I think I'm going to kill the grass in my back yard to make more room for garden. I hate mowing it anyway, and continually need more room for garden, so it seems like the perfect solution. I laid down a little bit of landscape cloth tonight in one small area. I was reminded I don't yet bend well for extended periods of time. But, I can just do a little bit at a time, and I'll get it done eventually. I think I'll start at the back, beside the garage, and work my way forward. That's the area that gets the most sun anyway. I also need to just spray round up on the grass/weed patch out by the alley. I think I'll spend this summer killing it and next year I can plant something there that doesn't require mowing. Is it time to mention again that I hate mowing? Apparently it is. I hate mowing.

There are so many things I need to get done around the house. For two months I didn't really do anything and things have piled up to say the least. But now that I'm feeling more normal I'm trying to do at least a couple of things in the house every day to get life back on an even keel. I still feel "scattered" and hope getting things a bit more under control will help that.
________________
Check www.patsyterrell.com for the blog, art, and more. Friend me on facebook.com. Follow me at twitter.com.

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

These Three Pounds

This weekend at the flea market I bought some old crochet hooks. This might prompt the logical question of "am I crocheting." The answer would be, "no." I know how to crochet, and on occasion I feel the urge, but it generally passes quickly - long before I've even gone in search of yarn.

But this made me think about all the things we learn to do in our lives. It's quite astonishing, really. Each of us has developed hundreds, maybe thousands, of skills that we think nothing about. Dare I say, we take them for granted.

Think about all we learn to do in just the first couple of years. We go from helpless to walking in just about 12 months, and to talking in another 12. Those are not small accomplishments by any means.

In just a few more short years we can read and write, and somewhere along the way critical thinking enters the picture. We learn to develop relationships with others and start to find our way in the world.

Amazing all the things these three pounds of gray matter can do.

Take just a minute and think about all the things you know how to do. Some things we learn through osmosis - like language, and some we learn through diligent effort.

I was surprised at the disparate things on my list. I can crochet and I can shoot a gun for example. I don't know that I do either particularly well, although I'm guessing I may be better with a gun than a crochet hook. Fortunately, my daily life doesn't call for either of those skills much.
________________
Check www.patsyterrell.com for the blog, art, and more. Friend me on facebook.com. Follow me at twitter.com.

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

Moon Rock for the Touching

That's a sliver of moon rock you can touch at a special exhibit at the Cosmosphere through Monday.

This is lunar sample 70215.11, and one of only seven pieces of moon rock that are available for the public to touch. This fragment weighs about 7/10 of an ounce. It came from a rock that weighed more than 16 pounds. It's 3.75 billion years old - older than most rocks on Earth, just in case you were keeping track.



This NASA traveling exhibit is in a small trailer parked beside the Cosmosphere's front door. It contains information on the space program's mission to go to the Moon, Mars and Beyond.

It's ingenious, really. You can read some exhibits, touch the rock, and have an opportunity to get a free photo that looks like you're in a space suit on the moon, Saturn, or other far-flung locales.

The rock is under a small piece of plastic. And don't get any ideas, it's very secure. The guys traveling from Houston with the exhibit tell me they do clean it every day so you're actually touching rock, not the residue from the last few thousand people who touched it.



July 20, 1969 was the first manned moon landing, so we'll celebrate the 40th anniversary soon. In the 13 years after that initial visit, we made six more landings, and collected 842 pounds of lunar samples. This one was collected by Astronaut Jack Schmitt in 1972, near where the lunar module landed during the last visit humans made to the moon on Apollo 17.

For those of us who grew up with the space program, it's encouraging to see a new generation experiencing some of that excitement.



I can't say this young lady was feeling the same excitement I did when I was about her age and went outside to look up at the moon, knowing there were men walking around on it for the first time, but I hope she's feeling something - a sense of excitement, possibilities, the thrill of exploration, or a new appreciation of science.

I love to see NASA doing these sorts of programs - not only because I got to touch a moon rock, but because it's a way to share the thrill of exploration with new generations as we prepare to return to the moon.

You can go touch the moon rock from 9-5 Monday, for free. After Monday they're headed on down the road. Don't miss it. 
________________
Check www.patsyterrell.com for the blog, art, and more. Friend me on facebook.com. Follow me at twitter.com.

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

Doggie Easter Parade

This photo of my friend, Julie, sums up today's Doggie Easter Parade I think. It was windy. (see Julie's hair) People were having fun. (see Julie's smile) Dogs were generally uninterested, but accommodating. (see Gracie)

This afternoon Cause for Paws had their first ever Easter Parade and Egg Hunt for Dogs. Although I'm not a dog owner, I couldn't resist going. There was mention of dogs wearing Easter bonnets, but with the gale force winds today it was impossible.

There was one dog doing her best for the occasion, though.



There were little dogs like Max, whose ears could have made him airborne had his humans not held him tight.



And big dogs, who were affected by the wind, too.



The event got started with a dog parade...



Led by none other than the season's most important celebrity...



After the parade, Mayor Trish looked over the assembled troops and chose a king and queen. Some of the dogs understood the significance of this event and did their best to schmooze with the mayor.



Greg wanted a photo with one of the winners, Maile, who's royal subject is Pam Paulsen.



Maile could not be bothered to pose, having important royal functions to perform. We're not sure exactly what those are, but they precluded her from taking time out for a portrait sitting. Greg pursued her like a paparazzi for awhile, but finally gave up.

Photographers were finding much to interest them. Not only the Hutchinson News photographer, but also Bob and Greg, were trying to capture the memorable moments. Connie Johnson and I were snapping away too.



All of the festivities today were held at our new dog park. Every time I drive by there are lots of people there with their doggies, letting them run free. Even being uneducated about the ways of dogs, this seems like a really cool thing to me. I was happy to contribute my $2 at the door today.

The dog park is something Trish really wanted, as well as some other folks in town, including Donna Hessman.



After the parade, and the King and Queen coronation, there was an egg hunt. Of course, step one is hiding the eggs. We're taking some poetic license with "hiding" in this case. Kelly was one of the expert egg hiders, with the wind assisting in spreading them about.



The eggs had doggie treats inside. But, as you might expect, it was the job of the humans to procure the eggs for their dogs. Some were more patient than others.





All were "Blowin' in the Wind" all day long.







Once the humans had gathered the eggs, they had to work to keep them from blowing away. In this case, the dog was rushing in to make sure all the doggie treats were safe.



This family perfected the wind-blocking technique to search to see if they had any prize eggs.



It was a really fun afternoon, despite the wind.



Afterwards, we went into the new animal shelter to see the kitty condo decorating contest entrants. We stayed long enough for me to fall in love with a four year old kitty, Portobello, being held here by Hazel.



I did not bring him home, because I'm gone too much and a kitty would get lonely. But, if you are in need of a feline companion, he is adorable and a sweetie. He's playful and was content being held - the best of both worlds. I want him to have a wonderful, loving home.
________________
Check www.patsyterrell.com for the blog, art, and more. Friend me on facebook.com. Follow me at twitter.com.

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

Someone Should Stop Me

Someone should stop me from buying seeds, and planting seeds, and wanting more seeds. But no one has. And look what has happened.

This is only a small portion of the things I have planted. These are just the ones that are further along. I've had to add more lights and another table and have resorted to using baking dishes to hold plants. Yet, still, I haven't stopped.

Sharon - she would be the friend who happens to be a landscaper - tells me I have room for 20-40 plants in my front flower bed. Hmmmm... well.... if 40 is good then 340 must be better... right?

Something tells me I should listen to the woman who makes her living making people's flower beds look great. But something inside me wants to put in every single little plant.

Maybe this weekend I should start killing more grass in the back yard. I hate mowing it anyway, so this could be ideal - more room for plants and less grass to mow. Sounds like a win-win.

I've grown unnaturally attached to the seedlings. Every morning I pad into the sun porch and say "hello little plants" to the row after row of little baby green things. (They do not answer back, just in case you were wondering.)

I have seeds starting on the dining room table, by the kitchen sink, and on the kitchen cabinets. That's in addition to the multiple trays in the sunroom.

Tonight I was in a store I hadn't been to in awhile. And $3.61 later, I have five new packages of seeds - things I didn't have before.

Someone should stop me. Really.
________________
Check www.patsyterrell.com for the blog, art, and more. Friend me on facebook.com. Follow me at twitter.com.

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

A Girl Can Look...

I wanted to show you photos of the beautiful baby plants I've been growing. Unfortunately, various computer entities are not cooperating tonight so that's impossible. I gave it the old college try, plus some, involving different programs, different computers, and other foolishness - but for the first time I haven't been able to find a workaround. So, look for them another day. I just don't have any more brain power to devote to it tonight.

Today was devoted to more work on the United Way logic models and other assorted things for our application that's due on Tuesday. This has been a massive undertaking for me and for the board committee working on it. Hopefully it will all be worth it. We are rethinking how we do everything and that, obviously, is taking some energy.

I have a busy day tomorrow and then I'm looking forward to the weekend. There won't be much rest during the weekend, but there will be fun.

Saturday morning I'm volunteering at the Underground Salt Museum, driving the little tram again. Then that afternoon I'm going to the doggie Easter parade. I don't have a dog. I don't want a dog. But I want to see other people's dogs dressed up in Easter bonnets and parading around. I'm not sure what that says about me - or about people who dress up their dogs - but I'm going anyway. I may never want to see it again. I may never be able to see it again because someone may see the folly of the whole thing. But Saturday afternoon I'm going to make sure I'm on hand to witness it.

Sunday is a flea market and an antique postcard and bottle show at the fairgrounds. I don't need any antique bottles or postcards, but a girl can look. Right? Sure. A girl can look. And who knows what treasures are going to be at the flea market - things that as I sit here tonight I don't even know exist and yet, somehow, I will be unable to live without come Sunday afternoon. It's magic, I tell you.

Well, off to bed for me. Working on logic models hurts my brain in ways I can't even begin to describe with mere words. It needs to rest. And so do I.
________________
Check www.patsyterrell.com for the blog, art, and more. Friend me on facebook.com. Follow me at twitter.com.

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

Goals

Some people have goals for the year or the next five years. My goal is to get through the next two weeks and get everything done that simply must be done. I feel overwhelmed by it all.

I want to have time to live life, not just to sustain life. Seems so much of our time is spent just getting this thing done so we can get that thing done and on and on and on. There must be better ways to live. I need to find one. Quickly.
________________
Check www.patsyterrell.com for the blog, art, and more. Friend me on facebook.com. Follow me at twitter.com. All text and photos on this website are copyright Patsy Terrell, unless otherwise noted. None are to be used without permission. Thank you.

Scientist Dr. Russell Vreeland in Hutchinson

Scientist Dr. Russell Vreeland is Director of the Ancient Biomaterials Institute at West Chester University in Pennsylvania. He and colleagues discovered 250 million year old bacteria still alive inside a drop of water in a salt crystal a few years ago. It is the oldest living thing on Earth. The Kansas Underground Salt Museum has an exhibit about the discovery.

Dr. Vreeland has been in Hutchinson for a few days. On Sunday night he gave a presentation for Kansas Underground Salt Museum staff and volunteers. Monday at noon he gave a patron's only Dillon Lecture.

This field of studying ancient biomaterials is about 100 years old. Sunday night he told us the first paper about finding an organism in salt was published in 1900 about a sample from Poland. In 1960 there were three papers, one from Europe and the other two by researchers from Wichita State University, who referenced finding the organisms in a mine about an hour north - the Hutchinson mine. So, the first two organisms isolated in North America were from the Hutchinson mine. Since 1990 there have been 66 papers published, so this is a growing field.



The importance of microbes to life cannot be underestimated. On Monday he pointed out that if we all died, the microbes would experience a minor disruption, but "if microbes all died, we'd die in six months."

Microbes are everywhere - they live in rock in Antarctica and in the Gobi desert. Monday he showed a photo of a pure acid cave in California, saying that if you put your unprotected hand in it you'd have no skin or bones left in 30 seconds. But microbes live there.

To give people a sense of the size of these organisms, Dr. Vreeland gave the example that a million of them, end to end, would make a meter, which is roughly 39 inches. He joked Sunday night, "Bacteria invented us as carriers because we get them around better."

They are tiny, but a powerful reminder of how interconnected life is. Dr. Vreeland pointed out Sunday night that, "When you're underground, you're walking around in the guarantee that there will always be life on this planet." He said Monday, "Extinctions happen, but life survives."

Dr. Vreeland said Monday that, "Rocks are Earth's gene bank." It's another reason for the Microbial Ecologists Credo - "There is no life on Earth. It is the Earth that is alive."

During both presentations he discussed various instances of this science being used. In 2002, the leg bone of a T Rex was discovered - not a fossil - but a bone that contained soft tissue, blood cells, etc. They learned T Rex is related to chickens. In 2007 in Mexico a frog was found preserved in amber - the whole frog. In 2005 researchers mapped the entire genome of the Woolly Mammoth. He said Sunday night, "The woolly mammoth may be the first organism ever brought back from extinction." He said its place in the ecosystem has never been replaced, so it would not be a problem ecologically.



Using the techniques of this science, researchers now know what Neanderthals looked like, and it's not very different than how we look today. They also know they did not have black hair, but red and blonde. They spoke like us, and some even had speech impediments.

He also talked about a fossil in an Australian museum. A researcher looked into the mouth of a Devonian era fish and saw there were nerves and muscles holding the jaw in place - even after 400 million years. One of the important things about this is that it tells us we can no longer pinpoint age by degradation.

The bacterium Dr. Vreeland discovered is commonly found in the salt from that era, but he and his colleagues were the first to isolate it and prove it was still alive. He was working with a geologist, Dr. Dennis Powers, and Vreeland said Monday he felt they were guided to that spot where they selected the crystals that had the organism. He said, "This little organism taught me more about the love of God than anything else."

In a May 2008 interview when the Hutchinson exhibit opened, Dr. Vreeland said, "The feeling we had when we saw it was not pride. It was humility. We've given it its opportunity and that's all. I feel humble every time I look at it."

He continued during that interview by saying, "I don't care what your beliefs are, there's no way we can look at ourselves and thump our chests looking at that. That is the oldest living thing on earth. Here's an organism that was alive 100 million years before the dinosaurs, you've got to respect it."

They have proven that the bacteria can sense when they are in danger of the water evaporating, which would kill them. So, in salt water they will flock to an area where a crystal is forming and go to the inside edge so the crystal forms around them and they are safely encased in the water droplet inside the salt crystal. He said Sunday that when people are on tours underground, and get to pick up a piece of salt as a souvenir, that they might well have something that's alive after 270 million years.



He spoke about how the museum can instill an excitement about science in children. We now know, thanks to Robert Ballard, that children who get really excited about science at junior high age or earlier have an 80% chance to going on to a career in science. If it's high school before a kid gets excited about science there's only a 15% chance. He said Sunday, "we could make the next generation of Nobel prize winners."

They know the bacteria is 250 million years old because that's how old the salt surrounding the water droplet they're in is. So, because they know the salt formed around the water with the organism in it, they know the organism is the same age as the salt.

The Hutchinson Salt Member is about 270 million years old. Dr. Vreeland took samples from here last year, and more on this visit, and is just now starting to research them. He and his students have found DNA in the samples and are now incubating more than 100 crystals from Hutchinson, but it takes four months for the cultures to grow so it will be awhile before we know if there are living organisms in the salt. Other preliminary findings are exciting, but Dr. Vreeland asked not to have anything more published until it is proven, and I'm certainly going to honor that request.



He said Monday that one of the things he's excited about from the Hutchinson mine is looking at the red spots in salt crystal. He suspects the red may be a remnant of microbes. Historically there are accounts of red salt, and microbes can make the surface of water appear red. He thinks maybe the red indicates the presence of microbes, but he can't prove it yet.

He wasn't able to get a good sample from New Mexico to study that, but in Hutchinson he did. The salt layer in New Mexico was formed from water of the Pacific ocean, but the salt here was left when water from the Atlantic ocean evaporated. He said the samples from Hutchinson have some of the typical crystals in which they found the bacteria.



People often ask if there is any danger to people from these bacteria and there is not. As Dr. Vreeland said Sunday night, "We don't have enough salt for them. Neither does the ocean." Besides that, pathogens have to co-form along with the thing they harm and there were no humans around 270 million years ago. And, an organism that can harm humans is killed by salt, which is why salt is used for things like beef jerky.

Dr. Vreeland will be returning to Hutchinson for more samples at a later date.
________________
Check http://www.patsyterrell.com/ for the blog, art, and more. Friend me on facebook.com. Follow me at twitter.com.

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

Love Fades

Funny how love fades.

You're with someone and every moment is filled with meaning and it's as if the two of you discovered love. You're sure no one has ever loved like you do. You feel sorry for everyone else in the world that your beloved is taken, but thrilled they're with you.

Then comes the drifting. Then the longing for it to be like it used to be. And then it's over.

Your heart breaks and you think about them every day, seemingly every moment of every day.

And then one day you realize you haven't thought about them at all. Before you know it it has been a week and they haven't crossed your mind. And you're thankful to be moving on. Until you realize that the same is happening for them.

We want to believe those we have loved will always think of us and, yet, our own experience tells us it's not true.

So, what can we do but go forth, riding on the backs of these mistakes, into another love?
________________
Check www.patsyterrell.com for the blog, art, and more. Friend me on facebook.com. Follow me at twitter.com.

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