There is such a thing as too much time in a car. My entire last week was spent watching the highway lap the miles. I arrived home last night and my luggage is still on my living room floor. I'm afraid that if I gave you a completely detailed retelling of the week you would be as bored as I was at times. So here is a list of highlights:
1. Alton, Kansas-- Russell Stover was born near here. I bought 2 scarves and 2 pairs of earrings (I lost one of my blue earrings somewhere between Jen's car and the LB brewery in Hays, Kansas). Bet, Ab, An, and I saw the Alton Bluffs, and An danced to a polka band. Finally, the cats of Alton were spotted on multiple occasions and once they stopped and looked at me. If you know anything about myth and folklore, you know that I enjoy being there for its advent. When the Alton cats looked at me, I was quite certain that I would be under a blanket of good fortune for some time. It's worth the trip to Alton for their stares of fortune.
2. Mass in Downs-- This is goofy, but the thickly accented priest explaining that "mass is not a Marilyn Manson concert" is a church message I will remember much longer than most.
3. Comments for my first conference where I refer to the the poem "The Cremation of Sam McGee" and being unable to listen because of the climate control. It was too cold to even think.
4. The glass of wine with dinner on Monday night.
5. Eighth Day Books. I got to buy some poetry (Ranier Maria Rilke, Kenneth Rexroth, and Jane Hirshfield) books and spend time with Mary.
6. A surprise exploration trip with Marg. I had Wednesday off from conferences and we explored the bridges of Cowley County. The bridges are scattered throughout the county on dirt roads in difficult to find locations. We drove some rough roads and should thank Jo's Rav 4 for the ride. I also got to partake in one of my favorite simple pleasures: skipping rocks.
7. The rock climbing wall in the silo. It's amazing the things that can be conceived and accomplished when you are a family of daredevils and mechanical minds.
8. The mental adjustment for the second conference I attended, which was not law related. So many buzz-words: framing, social-math, toxic stress, facilitating.
9. The last day of the conference our groups were supposed to give a mock presentation where we used the framing tactics and social math we had learned. One group used Dorothy and the Wizard of Oz characters for an analogy and the facilitators were delighted with using a familiar and local story for the presentation. Someone in our group then suggested we use "In Cold Blood" for our familiar story.
10. Gallery Walk in Hays where I viewed art exhibits. I think the silhouetted face made of fabric eyelets was my favorite.
11. Watching Persuasion with Jen because of the quiz from Shauna's blog which said that I was Anne Elliot(What Jane Austen character are you?). I am not certain that I agreed, though there were some unfortunate similarities, namely her uncertainty about herself. The character changed during the movie... (don't chastise me for not reading it).
12. An evening at the Brass Rail in Hays. As an adult it's nice to have the opportunity to spend time with the people your dear friends are dating (even if he is playing Ms. Pacman and talking about alpacas).
13. Lots of time to think. The time was good with loads of new ideas.
One other note is that I drove through Greensburg. It is a devastating sight. Please continue to support this community in whatever way you can.
5 comments:
What is an Alton cat? Or rather, why are they significant?
And although JMLO said the quiz was fun, she did not indicate which character she was most like.
jmlo is elinor dashwood.
there were these two cats in alton that would dash away when you saw them. one time one of them stopped and looked at me. i am assuming they have mythic qualities, i don't really know for certain.
I love Eighth Day Books!
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