Linens and Other Things

Today I washed the pile of hand-embroidered pillowcases I've amassed over the last couple of months. I hung them out early this evening and they have that wonderful fresh air and sunshine smell to them. I absolutely adore linens dried outside.

I'm just starting to hang things out again. I love the crunch of a towel that has been dried in the wind instead of the dryer. To top it off, they're more absorbent without fabric softener in them, so that's an added bonus.


Tonight was Creative Sisterhood and for the first time in ages all six of us were present. I took the opportunity to use my recently purchased dishes. It is very nice to gather with women I feel connected to.

We will soon celebrate our third year of Creative Sisterhood. It started with me wanting to get a group of women together monthly to gather and share meaningful conversation. I wanted to create a group that would bond but would be different enough to offer multiple levels of interest. I contemplated who to invite for awhile, and tried out different combinations with notes in my journals, until I thought I had the winning group.

From the first night we gathered, the group developed a real personality of its own. It was quite fascinating to watch. By the second time we gathered it would have been impossible for someone new to be added.

I tried to create another group, and pushed the limit of "different" in it and it didn't work. I figured it would be spectacular if it did work, but I didn't have a great deal of hope the bonding would happen.

I have thought a great deal about how these things work and I've drawn some conclusions.
1. Groups must have a "home" - a place where they belong. In this case we gather at my house. I think it needs to be a consistent place, too.
2. I think someone's home is more conducive to a group than a sterile gathering place. There's a different feeling in a home.
3. I think it's good for people to share food together - preferably food someone has prepared themselves, with some intention to share it with people they care about. There's a reason Aunt Betty's pie tastes better than what you get at the corner cafe.

I always bake something for us to share. Tonight it was a lemon poppy seed cake, with orange glaze. I used the rose pan Kim got me for Christmas.



I'm so thankful warm weather has arrived and brought many of my perennials with it. I have bought quite a few plants, but mostly herbs and tomatoes. I've needed very few flowers to add to the front. I need to figure out what to plant so I have plenty of things to cut and bring inside. That's really what I like - to bring them indoors.

I don't really know anything about flower arranging - I just stick things in a vase and let them be "natural." Vases are one of the usual things I'm hunting at goodwill.

El Yunque Rain Forest in Puerto Rico

Almost two years ago - July of 2005 - I went to Puerto Rico. I have been meaning to share some photos with you but just hadn't gotten around to it, other than a brief post shortly after I returned.

Finally, something spurred me into action. Maybe it's that summer is around the corner and that makes the thought of the tropics more uppermost in mind. For whatever reason, I've been looking at photos tonight. I have some nice pix.




These were all taken at El Yunque Rain Forest. I wish I had had more time there, but it was lovely. These views were taken from the top of  the Yokahu Observation Tower.



The tower looks ancient, but it was built in 1962. You can climb the 96 steps and look out where you get these beautiful views of the clouds and the plants and the mixing of the two.

The day we were there it was raining off and on and the others in my group took refuge in the car. I couldn't stand not knowing what I'd see at the top of those stairs. I got very wet when the rain was coming down so hard it was coming through the open areas that serve as windows as you climb the spiral staircase. But I'm glad I persisted because the view was more than worth it.

Frankly, none of these photos do it justice.














In the park area around the tower, the rain gave flowers a dewy look, which I'd noticed earlier during my visit at other places. It rained a lot over the time I was there.











I couldn't resist some closeups of leaves a few days earlier when they were covered with rain drops.



It's the jungle, so there are lots of different kinds of plants and everything is moist and lush.



What you don't get a sense of from the things online about El Yunque is how "civilized" it is overall. I'm certain there are some places where it's more "wild," but you'll have to get off the beaten path to find them. The beaten path is paved over, as a matter of fact.

I was with other people so didn't get to do as much exploring as I would have liked. Most people start at the visitor's center, but my main memory of it is getting a cell phone call that some projects I had going in my house had run into some difficulties. That should tell you two things -
1. I had cell phone signal so it's not the wild jungle you might expect
and
2. There was nothing there that was keeping my attention sufficiently to keep me from answering the phone

You can see some beautiful scenery, even without getting off the pavement.











I have more photos to share and I'll try to get to them before another two years passes. Looking at all these has made me want to go on a trip again.

________________
Check www.patsyterrell.com for the blog, art, and more.

The Moon and Venus

The Moon and Venus are putting on a beautiful show tonight. Go outside and look - it's stunning. Greg furnished this fabulous photo. See more of his work at www.thelope.com.

Quote of the Day

I shall feel bad if I do not write and I shall write bad if I do not live.~ Francoise Sagan

Advertising and My Attention

The world and how we interact with it has changed dramatically in the last few years, and advertising has to change too. Businesses are very slow to change and continue to throw their ad dollars away.

One of the biggest wastes of advertising dollars is yellow pages. You know what I do with the phone book they plop on my porch? I pick it up and take it directly to the recycling bin. I never open it. That $50,000 you just spent to get the back cover ad - wasted. I never saw it, unless it happened to land back side up in the paper recycling bin and I caught a glimpse of it before I dumped the Fingerhut catalog, which I also never look at, on top of it. Just because I buy things through catalogs on occasion does not mean I will buy something from your catalog.

You may be thinking - but where do you get phone numbers? Online, of course. And if you're hard to find online I'll just call your competitor. And, by the way, I want it now. If I have to order it, I'll just order it online instead of having you do it for me. So how could you get me interested in your phone book? If it were digital and would easily dump into my PDA. Then you could get my attention. Or, if you were giving me a list of cell numbers instead of land lines. I call very few people on their land lines. I have one and never even answer it. I should just have it disconnected, I just never seem to get around to doing it.

Of course, you could argue that I'm not your customer, and that may be true. But I am a person with some income, with which I purchase goods and services, so I'm someone's customer. But you're going to have to be a little more savvy if you want me to be yours.

The trick is to figure out how to get to me. Where do I put my attention? Well, generally places where you can't find me easily. I listen to radio, but I also listen to podcasts. I read news online. I do watch some television, but I'm a button pusher - changing channels or fast forwarding. I read magazines and that's probably one of the best mainstream ways to get to me. To top it off, magazines are very niche marketed.

That's the reason they often ask what magazines you subscribe to - it says something about who you are. If you're reading sports magazines or decorating magazines or science magazines it all says something about who you are and what you're about. I suppose I could do marketers a favor and share the list of what I subscribe to here, but I don't know that I'm feeling that generous.

Oh, what the heck - it's the weekend - let me see if I can remember them all... in no particular order:
Mary Englebreit's Home Companion
Martha Stewart Living
Oprah's O Magazine
Cottage Living
Midwest Living
Time
Scientific American Mind
Elle
National Geographic Adventure
The Crisis (NAACP Magazine)
Sierra Club Magazine
AAA Magazine
Smart Money
Taste of Home
This Old House

Others I subscribe to off and on:
House Beautiful
Country Living
Southern Living
New Yorker
National Geographic
Travel and Leisure
Gourmet
Bon Appetit
Home

OK, so, what do you know about me now? Well, it's obvious I'm not a sports fan. I did one time have a subscription to Golf Digest but it was a computer error. You can tell I'm not into cars, although at the same time I had a subscription to Road and Track - also a computer error. I had a bf at the time who took those off my hands.

But, you can probably deduce that I am into my house, that I have some interest in cooking, decorating and travel. You probably have a sense of my politics to some degree. You might also figure that I'm into investing because of Smart Money. That would not be true. I'm trying to make myself think it's fun, though. Elle is also an anomaly - I got a great deal on it and thought I'd see what it was like. There are some interesting articles in there, but they're surrounded by so much shallow crap it's hard to find them. Even if I had their bodies, I wouldn't dress myself like Lindsey and Paris, I have better taste.You might also guess I'm interested in science and news, which is true.

Truth be told I got a great deal on Time, or I wouldn't be subscribing to it. I do enjoy it, but it's overpriced. Especially these days when magazines make their money from advertising - they could give away the product, but they need the subscription numbers so they can charge more for the advertising. That's why you can get magazines for about $1 each by subscription - or often far less. You're part of the numbers game.

So, the big question is how do you get to me, or others like me? If you send me text messages you just piss me off, and the same with email spam. If you call me on my home phone, which you shouldn't do because I'm on the no-call list, I'll be even more pissed off. If you call me on my cell phone, I'll be beyond pissed. The message? Don't involve the phone in selling me something - it pisses me off. The phone is reserved for my friends and family.

How about the mail? You might have better luck with me that way, but let me just say that I have a shredder and a recycling bin within arms reach when I open the mail. And if you're just sending me a paper bill - that will piss me off too - I'm paying it automatically or online anyway so why are you cluttering my mail box? You're wasting paper, killing trees, harming the environment, spending the money I'm paying you wastefully by buying postage and paper, not to mention the manpower involved. All it tells me when you send me paper there's no reason to send is that you are out of touch with the modern world and likely to be gone in a few years. I might as well cast my lot with another company that's more on top of things.

I spend a lot of time online, but rarely do I pay any attention to online ads with the exception of Google ads on people's pages, which are generally very targeted to content. I read blogs and if someone I read regularly writes about a product in a genuine way - not a blog whore way - I am likely to pay attention. It's the modern equivalent of word of mouth advertising, which we all know is the most effective.

You might get to me with POP - that's "point of purchase" for those of you whose minds are not littered with advertising terms. That means those cool in-store displays, where they're encouraging you to try their crackers because some celebrity I've probably not heard of has their head on a cutout. If you have a NASCAR person on your display I'm not even going to look at your product because you've already told me it's not something I'm interested in by your choice of spokesperson. Put a nice grand motherly type up there holding a plate of crackers and I might give it a second look.

If you say something on the packaging that impresses me I might try your product. I'm what's called an "innovator" and an "early adopter," which makes advertising people drool. The terms came from a book in the 60s where a guy named Rogers wrote about the "diffusion of innovation." It's often used to apply to technology now, but the terms can be used in any field.

What it means for advertising is that I'm the kind of person who will buy something and try it out, even if I've never heard anything about it before. This is very, very, very exciting to people who are paid to introduce new products. After I try it out, I'll tell others about it. This makes advertisers drool even more.

The trick is, you have to get my attention, and therein lies the rub. Like everything, the population is spread out over a bell curve. There are very few innovators, a few more early adopters, but they are the left edge of the bell curve that the five categories spread out over and we're rare - even put together we're a smaller segment of the population than any of the other three categories.

How else do you get my attention? Well, an oldie but a goodie - you put your message where I'm likely to go and see it. Flyers in a store I frequent will get my attention. Tent cards in a restaurant I go to will be something I see. Well placed online advertising will get me. Someone telling me about it will do the trick - particularly if it's email or some other medium I'm using every day.

I'm thinking about this more and more, because I know that so many of the traditional ways to reach people don't reach me most of the time. And I know there are lots of people like me out there. So, I'm trying to figure out how I would advertise to myself. It's an interesting exercise. I recommend it as a process. Please share your thoughts as I'm trying to gather information.

New Things

Well, today I have been introduced to an antibiotic I've never heard of before - Avelox. It is used to treat bacterial infections of the lung and sinus - it sounds like just what I need - I certainly hope so.

This morning I woke up with a little tightness in my chest. Again. I decided not to give it the weekend to grow more little bugs and went to the doctor. This is round FOUR of antibiotics in the last month. He also gave me some Singular so I can breathe a little better.

As the day has progressed I've gotten more and more congested so I'm glad I just went to the doctor instead of waiting to see how I felt in a few days.

I know... wah, wah, wah. I hate it when people blog endlessly about their various illnesses and here I am doing it... and it's not like this is even an exciting or exotic illness... quite mundane. I'll find something more interesting to write about later - like that's a high hurdle to overcome. Maybe I'll just google and steal someone else's blog entry like people steal mine.

OK, not really. Well, I mean I wouldn't steal someone else's entry. People do steal mine on occasion, which I find rather pathetic. I'm living my life and I know it's not that exciting and they're stealing info about it - tres pathetique. Is that the correct French spelling? I guess if I were more up on my FTM I'd know that.

However, I'm pretty confident no one will steal this entry. If they do that will be beyond pathetic. But, I feel better after blathering on for a while about not feeling well so I guess it was worthwhile. I think I'll feel even better after a quick little nap so upstairs I go.

A Nice Normal Day

Today was a nice, normal day - some work, some fun, some friends, some outdoors, some conversation. Daily life is something we just don't fully appreciate most of the time. I try to remain thankful at all times, but sometimes it's easy to let life just happen without taking note of it.

But, today I made a conscious effort to be thankful. I was very thankful I got a good report at the dentist. I am one of those people who has a small fortune invested in dental work so hearing the dentist say I do not need to give him more money is always reason for celebration. As I wrote the $135 check for today's cleaning, bite-wing xrays and exam I was thankful to not have to do that again soon.

I continued dispensing money at various locales including buying gasoline. It was $3.09 for a few days and I was hoping it would go down. Two days ago it went up to $3.19. I decided my waiting method wasn't working out too well and filled up. How is it that while we're fighting a war for oil I keep paying more at the pump? Frankly, I don't pay too much attention to it - I drive until my car needs gas then I stop and fill up with gas. I drive again until I need gas and repeat the procedure. I am just not going to drive out of my way to buy gas at a penny less a gallon.

Late today I went and got more plants. I bought three more tomato plants and some more herbs. I also got cilantro, coriander and French tarragon and a couple of additional flowers. I think I need to make notes about when things are blooming and such. This must be why people keep garden notebooks.

My "garden notebook" consists of a composition book I painted (which looks very cool by the way) and then taped in the little pegs that tell you what flower is what. I'll admit, it's not much of a system. But, it's something. I did that last year. Well, with most of the things. I did just toss out some little pegs when it was winter and I still hadn't gotten it done. But, as I look at my flower bed I see the wisdom in knowing what came up and what didn't. I grow more fond of perennials by the moment.

Of course, it would be more logical to do that on computer I guess - just taking periodic snapshots. If I could just find a few more hours in each day I could get all these little things done that I think about doing. Honest to goodness, I'm not a person who takes much down time now - it's not like I'm sitting around doing nothing.

The funniest part of the day - when I got in the car today there was this high pitched whine. I couldn't figure out where it was coming from. I searched the glove compartment. I looked around the car. I even looked under the hood. It was just this faint whine. When Greg and I went out to Stutzman's and Dutch Kitchen tonight he heard it for the first time. He looked a little bit. He couldn't find it. So, we're leaving Dutch Kitchen and he opens the console and it's suddenly much louder. He roots around in there and pulls out my pedometer, who's battery was going down apparently. Mystery solved.

I slept last night for the first time in ages where I felt really rested. I woke up a bunch of times, but overall I felt like it was a deep sleep. I think I've dreamed about tornadoes every night since Greensburg was hit. I haven't been having nightmares or anything, but it's a recurring theme. Not surprising, considering we were there. It left an impression, obviously.

I had a busy, busy, busy day - everything from a conference call to my board meeting with dozens of other things tossed in for good measure. It ended with dinner at about 9:30 tonight. After dinner I went to Wal-mart to buy bananas and after selecting my bunch was nearly mowed down by an employee running to the front door. When I turned toward the front, I saw three other employees - all management types with ties - also running to the front door. The guy stocking produce was looking toward the front door and employees were streaming from all parts of the store toward the front door. I asked what the deal was and the produce guy told me someone tried to steal something and they always try to get a license plate number when that happens.

I hauled my bananas, strawberries and pears up to checkout where I questioned the checker even more. Apparently the guy tried to steal a computer. Greg was waiting in the car and said the guy was running really fast when he noticed him. I don't know if the woman at the door caught him or what, but it was quite the extra excitement. What can I say? I live in small town America. Things are quiet here.

Bedside Meetings

I'm always suspicious of bedside meetings - you know, those times when someone is so ill that people have to gather at their bedside to get their approval, opinion, blessing, fill-in-the-blank. It's never a good idea and I'm always suspicious of the people gathering 'round the bed. They're generally trying to take advantage of someone who's too ill to think clearly.

I used to work with a woman who when her husband's aunt was dying had the attorney draw up new papers giving her and her husband the vacation home the aunt had verbally promised her.

My guess is the aunt had promised her something to get her to shut up, a technique those of us who worked with her could only dream of pressing into action. There was no such luck for us. So we had to listen to her justify having the aunt sign the papers on her death bed for the remaining six days of her life. And frankly, "justify" is a bit strong - that would imply she felt like it wasn't completely appropriate - she felt it was the only normal thing to do.

I'll just fast forward to the part of the story where the husband left her for a woman a third his age, and got possession of the vacation house at the same time. While he was no prize, he at least didn't show up at his aunt's bedside with a new will for her to sign before she died. Maybe only because he had a wife to do it for him, but for whatever reason, he didn't dirty himself that way. Which is just as well, because he was plenty nasty already. I see him around town every once in awhile, and wonder if the current wife knows her days are numbered.

She'll be gone, too, as soon as he meets someone younger who wants to enjoy the vacation home. Then he'll have an affair with her and get divorced and marry her instead. Lather, rinse, repeat. This is an opportune time for me to mention one of the obvious rules of relationships - If he cheats with you, he'll cheat on you. Write it down, ladies, it's a rule to live by. Frankly, write it down, gentleman, it's just as true for women.

Well, you may be wondering where I'm going with this meandering jaunt about bedside meetings. Well, my friend, Mark sent me an AP story this morning about yet another bedside meeting where, yet again, someone was trying to take advantage of an ill person.

And, here's another tip - when even John Ashcroft is iffy on it, don't go there - not at the bedside or anywhere else - just say "no."

------------------------

White House pushed Ashcroft on wiretaps

By LAURIE KELLMAN, Associated Press

President Bush's warrantless wiretapping program was so questionable that a top Justice Department official refused for a time to reauthorize it, sparking a battle with top White House officials at the bedside of an ailing attorney general, a Senate panel was told Tuesday.

Former Deputy Attorney General James Comey told the Senate Judiciary Committee on Tuesday that he refused to recertify the program because Attorney General John Ashcroft had reservations about its legality just before falling ill with pancreatitis in March 2004.

Comey, the acting attorney general during Ashcroft's absence, said then-White House Counsel Alberto Gonzales and former White House Chief of Staff Andy Card responded by trying to get Ashcroft to sign the recertification from his bed at George Washington University Hospital.

During that dramatic meeting, also attended by Comey, Ashcroft lifted his head off the pillow and appeared reluctant to sign the document, pointing out that Comey held the powers of the office.

Gonzales and Card then left the hospital room, Comey said.

"I was angry," Comey told the panel. "I thought I had just witnessed an effort to take advantage of a very sick man who did not have the powers of the attorney general."

The hospital room confrontation had been previously reported, but this was the first time Comey has spoken about it publicly.

Copyright © 2007 The Associated Press

I snapped this photo the other day when Greg and I were headed out in the country to interview someone for the Greensburg story. Obviously, they were not in town. I loved the view because there were no utility poles on either side. It's so rare to find that anymore - even in the country.

The artist in me loves the vanishing point on the horizon. The graphic designer in me wants to slap copy in the sky so the road is pointing to it. Mark Twain had it right when he said our experience colors our view.

I have spent the day working on a variety of projects. I've been multi-tasking at a rate that's unusual even for me and I am a multi-tasker extraordinaire. I also did a number of things today that I've been putting off. It's good to have them out of the way. Of course, I still have more to do. For some reason there are just things I always want to put off. I've let some pile up and have got to slog through them - some of them are pretty important things to get done.

I'm getting ready for the MHA Garden Tour and there are a ton of details to handle. I also have some freelance things to get out of the way. I've been doing MHA stuff day and night the last couple of days to get caught up. But when I do that then I'm behind on the other things so it's a vicious cycle. And there are still a long list of things I want to do that don't fall into either of those categories - work on my house, paint, sew, crochet, cook, etc. etc. etc.

And I need to plant. I bought some herbs the other day and they're still sitting in their little containers in a box lid on the front porch. I got some basil, lemon balm, chives, dill, lavendar, thyme and one tomato plant. I'm going to plant more tomatoes but that was the only one they had that looked really good. I bought three basil plants this year. Last year I had two but I discovered that basil is very popular and easy to give away so thought I'd get an extra one this year. My parsley and oregano survived from last year. I haven't ever grown dill but I'm really hoping it does well. The same with chives. I bought two lavendar plants. I'm going to put one in the front and one in the back. I've never had much luck with it so hopefully I'll find a place it likes this time.

The mint in the front flowerbed is growing like mad. I have to go pull it out periodically so it doesn't choke out other things. When I did that yesterday I discovered my calla lillies are coming up, which I'm thrilled about. I adore calla lillies. I've been running the mint down the garbage disposal to scent it when I have to discard some. Of course, I've also been using it in ice water and it's a lovely addition.

I will have to go shop for some more tomato plants. I love, love, love tomato basil soup made with fresh ingredients. Nothing like some tomato soup with pesto mixed in. mmmmm mmmmmmm good.

Google Earth images of Greensburg, Kansas

I had a comment from Mike and Kelly who pointed me to the following site where you can see before and after Google Earth images of Greensburg, Kansas. It's quite amazing to see.

Thanks, Mike and Kelly.

Working Weekend

I have worked most of the weekend. Yesterday I finished a radio piece about the Greensburg tornado and today I have been working on MHA things as well as some writing I promised would be in email at 8 a.m. Monday.

It's hard to believe this month is half over. Somehow I have missed the last couple of weeks. That usually means I'm not living as intensely as I should so I must address that.

Happy Mother's Day

As if on cue, my white rose bush has put forth some buds in honor of Mother's Day. In the south, you wear white roses in your Mother's Day corsage if your mother is dead and red roses if your mother is living.

I always ordered my mom a corsage with three roses because she had three children. I don't know if people still do that sort of thing, but I certainly hope so. Mother's Day was always a day when the church was full, with children visiting from near and far.

We buried my mother six years ago today. It was a beautiful spring day, just like she loved. She had just turned 82 a few weeks earlier.

This photo was taken the day we celebrated her 80th birthday with a community wide celebration. It was May 8, 1999 - the Saturday of Mother's Day weekend, held at the Barlow house, a historic home in Barlow, Ky. We had not been able to do it near her birthday on April 24 because the house was unavailable. We made that decision early on and it turned out to be a blessing in disguise because she broke her hip at the end of January that year and had just gotten rid of the walker the day before her birthday party. That, of course, did not deter her from wearing her usual high heels with her dress.



I hope you have a wonderful Mother's Day. 

May 11

Today is the six year anniversary of my mother's death. Each of the previous five years I have made it a point to commemorate the day in some way and to be doing something I love. One of the greatest gifts my mother gave me was teaching me to be happy, so on the day of her death it seemed important to honor that by doing something that made me happy.

The first year after her death I was in Paris. I went to Notre Dame that morning and at 11:32 - the exact moment of her death given the time change - I was staring at stained glass in Notre Dame and saying a prayer. I spent more than an hour there, crying, praying and healing. Afterwards I went to Angelina's and had my favorite chicken curry salad for lunch and finished off with their famous hot chocolate. I then walked down to Catherine's, my favorite perfume store in Paris, and shopped. It was a lovely way to commemorate the day.

In other years I went to Quivira, Amarillo and Santa Fe/Taos.  Last year I was at the artist's retreat in Ohio. Each of these has been a different kind of spiritual experience. I have always believed in what I call "geographic therapy" and it does well by me.

Last year I decided that it would be my last year to commemorate in exactly that way - that five years was enough - that I must learn to cope without travel. After making that decision I realized that this year the days of the week would fall the same way - she died on Friday, May 11 and we buried her on Sunday, May 13 - Mother's Day. The days and dates are the same this year. So, it seemed like a starting over in a way, a good time to take a fresh approach.

I also realized that this day is of importance only to me. Even the first year when I was traveling with someone, I went to Notre Dame alone, I went to lunch alone, I wrote alone. Grief is private for me, but not because I don't want to share, but because others don't treat it respectfully. To be involved with a person's passing from this world is an honor, and should be treated as such. I refuse to share that with anyone who doesn't give that the respect it's due.

The morning my mother died I drove to the hospital where my brother, Jim, had been with my mom. He called my other brother's house, where I was staying, telling us the end was near. We had known the end was close and I was just getting ready to go out the door when the phone rang. I had wanted to go early that day because we thought it might be the last one. So, we drove the 30 minutes to the hospital.

Greg asked if I wanted him to drive and I said, "no, I would make it or not - whatever was meant to be." When we arrived Jim was waiting in the parking lot for us and no words needed to be spoken - I knew she was gone. Jim and I embraced and cried while Greg looked on. He told me later it was the most genuine emotion he'd ever seen from people.

All three of us were blessed to adore our mother, and at the end of her life we all filled different roles. None of us cared which of us was with her when she died, but we wanted someone to be there. We took shifts and someone stayed with her around the clock the last few days. I've often thought Jim was the perfect one to be with her at the end. He was strong enough to tell her it was OK to let go, something that needed to be done. I hope I would have been strong enough to do it, but I don't know that I would have been. Things work out the way they are supposed to and Jim was with her when she passed and she went very peacefully after he told her she didn't need to hold on for us. I've been so very thankful he was there to do that. We all just wanted her to be comfortable and peaceful. What more can you hope for?

I was hoping to share a photo of my white roses in honor of Mother's Day, but with the late frost I don't have any blooms yet. So, I snapped a couple of pix of my mini pink roses today. I thought this one the perfect one to share since it has three roses, each in a different stage - just like life.

If you are fortunate enough to still have a mother here, take this opportunity to tell her you love her.

Related Posts:


Remembering Mama

I am No One's Daughter

Real Life (scroll down - second post on page)

Greensburg Kansas Tornado Pictures

I have spent the last couple of days working in Greensburg, Kansas for Landline Now on XM Satellite Radio. They hired me to produce some radio reports for them about the tornado and its effect on truckers and their business. I was fortunate I could take a couple of days vacation in order to do this freelance work. One piece ran today and there are more to come. I snapped some photos and will share more here in the coming days.

Frankly, the devastation of the town cannot truly be captured in words, pictures or video. It is mind boggling. The intersection of Main Street and Highway 54 has a huge pile of rubble, more than a story high, with a piece of farm equipment perched on top of it upside down.



Official estimates are that 95% of the town is gone. I don't know where the other 5% is that's supposedly OK. We were all over town, and I saw nothing that was undamaged. There are structures that are upright, but I saw nothing that wasn't damaged in some way.




A couple of blocks from that intersection, across from the grain bin, which is standing although it has damage, was a sight that became commonplace - a light pole snapped off. This pole was not much taller than I am and showed the distinctive look all of the ones I saw had - the splintered top, splayed outward.



Utility crews were working at a frantic pace and I'm amazed at all they've accomplished. The mayor said yesterday that Greensburg is going to have a whole new town and it's not hard to believe when you see all the new poles and cable going in, as well as other signs of hope. The bank was open yesterday - under a tent in front of the damaged building. Everywhere people are sifting through their belongings, looking for anything worthwhile or precious. Some businesses are starting to show signs of life as well, even without roofs.



The resilience of people is astonishing. People's homes have been turned inside out - literally - and they're going through their lives in plain view of everyone - and yet you hear laughter. Yes, laughter. People are laughing with their neighbors. They're hugging. They're gathering on street corners to share their survival stories. And they're celebrating. Yes, celebrating. They're alive. Their children are alive. Their neighbors are alive. Of course, lives were lost, and you also hear people acknowledging that.

Throughout town are flags - draped over rubble and flying high. They're bright punches of color in a landscape that has been stripped of much of its color. Grass is covered with rubble, flowers have disappeared, and trees have been denuded of bark and leaves.



Trees all over town are sheared off at the top. The bark has been pulled from them and deposited somewhere. Everyone is struck by different things in a disaster, but one of the most disturbing things I saw were places where a house was gone - literally - just taken away with very little left behind other than the foundation. Those folks can't even go through what's left of their homes - the entire home has disappeared.

On one corner, there's a tree that has been stripped of its bark on one side but not the other. The house on the corner is completely missing - a few boards and a foundation, but nothing else. It's the only one in sight where this is the case although all the others are damaged.



It's so poignant it's heartbreaking, because for the residents of Greensburg this is now just daily life - at least for now - the sorting through of their lives. And they are rising to the occasion, as are the National Guard, firefighters, EMS workers, and volunteers of every imaginable kind.



There are signs of optimism everywhere - and humor. Signs proclaim properties are "For Sale" or "Newly Remodeled, Skylights Installed."  Teddy bears are perched on what's left of stairs and Santa is overlooking Main Street from his second story vantage point.



Across the street from Santa is what's left of Hunter Drug, which featured a beautiful old soda fountain. The spigots are still visible in the rubble. I had an email the other day from someone who told me their grandfather started Hunter Drug. I have asked them to share some stories of him and the early years of Hunter Drug here on the blog. I hope they will do so.



Mother Nature's power is not to be minimized. We humans can build our worlds very carefully and she can destroy them in a few minutes. One of the gentlemen I spoke with said it lasted 20 minutes and then it was over. It took years to build and minutes to destroy a town. The Greensburg Tornado left its mark.



I cannot truly capture what it was like to walk around there - it felt like Holy Ground. What you're seeing seems impossible to believe. The brain does not want to process it. It doesn't fit anything you know about how a town is supposed to look.



It was an honor to be among these people working to reclaim their lives. I'm thankful for those who allowed me to share their stories, I am humbled by them.

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Check www.patsyterrell.com for the blog, art, and more.

Busy Day

I have spent most of the day on the phone. Not being able to talk for a week leaves one with a lot of phone calls to catch up on. Unfortunately, my voice is showing signs of wear and tear and I don't sound as good tonight as I did earlier in the day. I'm hopeful after a night's sleep it will be better.

The weather was quiet today - a nice change of pace. Although Cow Creek, which goes through Hutchinson, is starting to flood. It's a result of all the water flooding Rice County to the north flowing this way. Hopefully it will not be at all serious.

Honest to goodness, I will talk about something other than the weather eventually. Who knew there was this much to say about it, anyway?

AQS 2007 Miniature Quilt George Sicilano

At the 2007 AQS Quilt Show in Paducah, George Sicilano of Lebanon, Penn., won third place in the miniature quilt division sponsored by Benartex. I met him on Saturday, April 28 and had a chance to ask about his quilt, "Small Medium at Large."



The name comes from the story of a psychic who was jailed on a charge of attempting to blow up a barge. Less than five feet in height, he escaped jail one night. The headlines the next day said, "Small Medium at Large."

The quilt measures 7 3/4 inches square and was foundation pieced and machine quilted.



See a larger photo of the quilt by clicking here.

Sicilano tells me he keeps 245 bolts, each a different color, in his studio at all times. He used about 40 of them in this piece, to get the subtle gradations of color. However, there are about 2,050 pieces of fabric in this one quilt.

He has been making quilts for about 10 years and he only does miniatures. He told me he starts his design on the computer. He won an honorable mention at the Paducah show in 1999 and things have progressed from there.

I asked how long it took to make this particular piece and he said he knew exactly how long it took. He said, "I finished my competition piece for this year and wasn't happy with it." So, he designed this one and started working on it with a very tight deadline. He worked for three and a half weeks, every day, from 5:30 a.m. to 12:30 a.m. the next morning.

It was really impossible to get good photos of the miniature quilts. They had them displayed in glass cases and the light reflection was horrible.



The Benartex Best of Show was won by Sally Collins of Walnut Creek, Calif. She made this quilt with no foundation. It is hand and machine quilted.

(Sorry - Photo removed at request of AQS)

The First Place winner was by Judy Spiers of Foxworth, Miss. Her quilt is called "Carnivale" and has bright colors and intricate hand and machine piecing in the original design. It is made from 4,640 individual pieces and is machine quilted.





(Sorry - Photo removed at request of AQS)

The Second Place winner was Pat Holly of Muskegon, Mich. Called "Tapestree," it was inspired by antique embroideries. It is embellished with decorative stitches and store-bought trims. It is machine stitched raw-edged applique and machine quilted.



(Sorry - Photo removed at request of AQS)

The Honorable mention winner was Connie Chun of Webster Groves, Mo. Called "Mary's Harvest," the original design was made in the medallion style with hand and reverse applique, machine paper piecing, and finished with hand quilting.



(Sorry - Photo removed at request of AQS)

Greensburg Tornado Update

The Pallasite Meteorite has been found in the rubble near the museum. The Big Well's website says it's half iron and half stone. It was on display at the museum at the Big Well. It was found on the Ellis Peck farm east of Greensburg by Mr. H.O. Stockwell of Hutchinson, using a device similar to a mine detector.

People were allowed back in today, but the NE quadrant has been evacuated again due to a leak of anhydrous ammonia.

There's word that President Bush may come to Greensburg later this week but it's not confirmed.

In other news, much of the state is flooded - especially hard hit are Topeka and Rice County.

Update: Bush will be in Greensburg on Wednesday.

Quote of the Day

"Everyone needs beauty ... places to play in and pray in where nature may heal & cheer & give strength to the body & soul alike." ~John Muir

I cannot recommend strongly enough a trip to Muir Woods north of San Francisco. Go early and you can enter before they officially open. I was fortunate enough to be alone there for some hours a couple of years ago when I visited. Talk about spiritual experiences - wandering around alone in Muir Woods is one of them.

Blog Advertising - Full Disclosure

I believe in full disclosure so want to state for the record that Patsy's Ponderings is not for sale to people who want me to promote their product, service, etc. and pretend it's content. When I talk about something on here that I like, or an experience I've had, it's all true - not because I'm being paid to say it.

The only paid advertising on Patsy's Ponderings are the google ad bars that are labeled quite clearly as advertising. If you see something of interest, help yourself by clicking- if you don't, ignore them. I am impressed that google matches the ads to content so well, but I am not a "blog-whore." I don't mind advertising, but I don't like advertising that's made to look like content. That's just wrong and such things will be the undoing of the whole "citizen journalist" concept blogs have grown into. There's a reason advertising in magazines and newspapers designed to look like content is labeled as advertising. Look closely and you'll see the little word "advertisement" there.

Now, all that said, if someone wants to buy ad space on my blog - I'm open to it - and I may well blog about my good fortune, giving you more publicity. But it will have to look like advertising. I'm not going put advertising into my blog that is masquerading as content. What I write here is just what I'm writing about and I try to be very honest about it if someone gives me a perk, like when Greg and I rode Union Pacific's Steam Engine 844 and I explained how we came to be on that train or when I did a review of Ten Zen Seconds and told you why I did that.

This blog is opinion, not reporting, in general, but I maintain basic journalistic standards. To not do so would be a dishonor to the journalism degree I worked for - and I did work for it with a lot of effort, lost sleep and doing things like wading through chemical spills "paying my dues" as a young reporter.

I was reminded this past weekend just how many holes there are in our massive media web when my coverage of the Greensburg tornado, which I was just getting from local media, was picked up by national media companies.  I give the average reader credit that if my blog were just one advertising thing after another they would ignore it as tripe. Patsy's Ponderings is just about Patsy's life - if someone wants to pay me to live my life and write about it here, please contact me - I dream of making a living being me - and we'll find a way to make it work. But I'm worth more than a penny for every 1000 words.

I hope I don't break my ankle getting down off my soapbox...

Happy News

It is time for some happy news on this blog. This weekend was to be a delightful time with friends visitng, the annual art fair, tea, and other such happy surprises. Those things still happened, but all of Kansas is grieving with the people of Greensburg, knowing that it could be any other town at any time.

But, I decided to post some happy news nonetheless.

Saturday was the annual art fair in Hutchinson, They are in their 43rd year. I got to see a number of friends who were exhibiting - Jocelyn, Jeanette and Pat were all there. Greg's girlfriend, Mia, came from Joplin to do the show. I also ran into a number of people I know who were shopping. However, I didn't go until the afternoon - after Mark and I made a run to Roy's - and officials closed it down because they expected bad weather.

Mia was selling her jewelry - she does beautiful pieces and this is one of her latest. I am honored to have a bracelet she made for me and I get compliements on it every time I wear it. This blue slag glass is something Diana and I picked up in Arkansas and this looks so pretty on it that I loaned it to Mia for future shows.



This afternoon Mia and I went to tea. It was supposed to be us and Greg, but unbeknowst to us it was for "women and girls" and they were serious about it. I found out about it from a very nice lady who goes to the teas I do for the MHA. She graciously got tickets for us. It was so very kind of her.

Kim Setty, the Channel 12 noon anchor, spoke and did a wonderful presentation. Considering she had been called into work about 1:30 a.m. on Saturday because of the storms, and had worked until midnight, she was looking and sounding very good.

It was more of a "program" than it was a "tea," but it was pleasant and I greatly appreciated Juanita getting tickets for us although I felt bad Greg didn't get to stay. That was just a communication difficulty.

They had some girls from the church do a maypole and that was fun.



And, finally, in other good news... I've mentioned my great nephew, BC, on the blog before. Saturday night was his junior prom. Mary Ann sent me some photos today and I thought I'd share. His girlfriend, Kaitlyn, is a real sweetheart. They go to different high schools and next weekend is her prom so they get to get all dressed up again. Maybe I'll get more photos to share.

A Family Story From Greensburg

This evening I had an email from Stan Lewis of Marion, Indiana. He was hunting for information about family that was in the Greensburg, Kansas, tornado and found my blog.

I asked his permission to share his email here and he graciously agreed and even sent along a photo. I think it makes the story personal, and gives a different perspective than what traditional media is providing.

Stan says, The photo is of me and my wife, Carolyn, Dad and his wife, Forrest Lee. We were celebrating dad's 99th birthday the weekend of Feburary 25, 2007 in the Best Western J Hawk motel in Greensburg which is rubble now. Forrest Lee is a classy lady and few people think dad looks to be in his 100th year.
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Hi Patsy, I came across your blog when I was searching for my dad and step mom who were in the Carriage House in Greensburg. Please forgive me that this is so long, but I thought there might be some interest. I and/or my family have a lot of history in Greensburg, Mullinville, Minneola, and Hutchinson.

I was born July 19, 1939 in Mullinville. My parents were Quakers, so I was a birth rite Quaker. When a year old my family moved to Minneola. There was no Friends church so we attended the Methodist church. My dad was a farmer and we fed steers during the winter.  I attended Southwestern College for a year after I graduated from Minneola H.S. in 1957, 50 years ago May 17. I went to Asbury College for the rest of my college years and to Asbury Seminary both in Wilmore, KY. I married a Hoosier, who attended Taylor University.

We felt God wanted us to be missionaries, but after I got my seminary degree we moved to Hutchinson, Kansas to have pastoral experience. I graduated from seminary, was ordained, and married all within eleven days in late May and early June 1964.

I was assigned to the Hadley Memorial Methodist Church in the south part of Hutchinson. It was literally a church across the tracks. We were there two years. The church closed a few years later. It is on F street as I recall. I usually go by when I go through Hutchinson which isn't very often.

I loved Hutchinson, the friendly people, the kind people. Elmo and Alma Pierson were in our church. He's been gone a long time. We stopped to see her on our last visit. They were always kind to us. I was interested in Christian literature so worked for the Wesleyan Publishing House here in Marion, Indiana until the end of 1968.

We than went to Burundi, Africa as missionaries in August 1968 with World Gospel Mission, headquartered here in Marion, Indiana. We served in Africa for 13 years and for 24 years I worked in the home office of the mission here in Marion. In January 2005 I retired from World Gospel Mission.

Just two years ago, 5-05-05 (May 5, 2005) I was asked to return to the mission and work part time. It was what I had done my last two years before retirement. I work about 20 hours a week. I love it, can set my own schedule and the missionaries appreciate what I do. It was October 1981 we returned to the states to live. 

My mother got a brain tumor and was in Wesley Hospital in Wichita. The doctors told dad they opened her up but the tumor was too big and too far inside, they just sewed her up. A few days later I rode with mom in the back of the ambulance to Dodge City which was just 20 miles from Minneola where Dad lived. She couldn't communicate. She died in September 1983 several weeks later, just a month shy of their 50th wedding anniversary. Instead of celebrating 50 wedded years in her new dress she'd bought she was buried in it to celebrate forever in heaven with Jesus Himself.

Dad knew Forrest Lee Einsel and got to know her better. She lived in a big farm house just southwest of the town of Greensburg. It is separated from the town maybe by one half mile or so.

In July 1985, I was honored when I married my dad to Forrest Lee (she goes by both names) in that big house.

Regarding Forrest Lee, was married to Charlie Einsel before she married dad. Charlie was 63 and she was 23 when they married. That's like getting married to your granddaughter. After being married for 30 years he was up on a roof and fell off as I recall and died. What was a 93 year old doing up there? Several years later she met and married dad. He's 15 years older and they have been married almost 22 years. She really does like older men. :)

A year or so after Dad and Forrest Lee married, Dad had a farm sale in Minneola. I have two brothers and we all helped him with it. Dad always loved the farm and wide open spaces. He loved Greensburg and was active in the Methodist church in Greensburg and some community efforts until his health prevented it and his age. Eventually Forrest Lee moved to the Carriage House in Greensburg. She wanted Dad to go too. But he couldn't live in a small room. He liked the wide open spaces.

Greensburg is almost like a second home to me. For longer than I can remember we had family reunions at the world’s largest hand dug well. And I’ve had different relatives who have lived there during the last 50 or more years. It was  very  interesting  to me when my dad moved to Greensburg with his new bride in July 1985. His sister and her family had lived in Greensburg, my aunt had lived there and my grandma and great grandma.

As you wrote about in your blog. Greensburg is now multiple piles of rubble.  I was glued to the TV all day Saturday with unbelief in seeing what I was seeing.

The end of February my two brothers and some of their families and my wife and I were in Greensburg at the motel that was on the west side and north side of Greensburg, across from the John Deere place as I recall. We were celebrating Dad's 99th birthday.

Two weeks ago dad  finally moved to the Carriage House nursing home in Greensburg . Last Friday night as the tornado did its damage in just a few minutes hardly anyone in the nursing home knew anything had happened.

Dad and another man did not go to the basement. They stayed on the main floor in their rooms I guess. Dad is hard of hearing, never knew what happened when it did. Forrest Lee was in the basement, the people there didn't hear either.

The Carriage House is only one of a few places that  still stands after the storm with only a missing roof and some broken windows.   As you know, the schools, the churches, the city hall, the bank, the John Deere dealer, the motels, they  are gone. But still all of the residents needed to be evacuated to a safer place.  

Originally dad and Forrest Lee were going to Mullinville to stay with her niece. But when she came to get them the authorities wouldn't let her in to get them (Isn't this interesting, they were being evacuated but she couldn't get them maybe she didn't look official enough).  

Searching the internet and making calls, finally last evening (Saturday) I found that dad and mom had been moved to Augusta, Kansas  to the Lake Point Carriage House. Five others from Greensburg are also there. They don't have phones in their rooms, but the workers go find them so we can talk. Isn't this great? So early this afternoon I talked to Dad and  we  had a friend from Wichita who went out to visit them this morning. They had left Greensburg with the minimum of things needed. He was able to get some things for them.

Physically they appear great, Praise the Lord. Emotionally it has been a traumatic event.  It's interesting they only have a bed in their rooms, not even a chair. They each have a room. Forrest Lee didn't even have a change of clothes. My friend went and got her two sets of clothes. He is a great friend and is going to see them again tomorrow and plans to go to Greensburg to get their clothes and personal things if he can get permission. 

They have no idea what the future holds, but as we’ve often heard or said, we know who holds the future. I know they would appreciate your prayers on their behalf. It is not easy for a 99 year old and an 84 year old couple whose lives have been so turned upside down in just moments of time and they are moved into a new community where they know almost no one.

I am so glad we can share our burdens as well as our joys with a great family of fellow believers.