RIDING FENCES

BEWARE OF FALSE KNOWLEDGE;

IT IS MORE DANGEROUS

THAN IGNORANCE.

                                          George Bernard Shaw

If it looks like a duck, quacks like a duck, swims like a duck, it is a duck.  This is why I hate politics.  But there is reason to not ride a fence.  First it is uncomfortable and then it makes people think that the more preposterous the story can be made that you will fall for it and go their way.

It is no secret that I am beyond horrified with the leader of our country.  I am not enamored with those who voted for 'hope and change' without understanding that the hope and change was told to us all along and many just ignored it.

I have been brought to task by a few that I need to support what is going on in the White House and Washington because of who they are.  I am sorry, they do not support the oath of office that they took and our country is paying the price of corruption and turning from God and the foundations that our Republic was founded on.

I am not confident that Washington will ever change itself.  Until we have a constitutional convention and we limit the power of the thieves that we have put there, we will have to do the best with who we send up there.

So not being enamored with the status quo there have been games devised in Kansas that will seem to circumvent the vote.  If the race for senate and governor have not bothered you it should.  Even if you don't like the incumbents.

When half truths and open games are played it should alert and bother both sides.  When your talking points have to come from the morning postings of your party you need to start being upset about being manipulated and treated like a fool.

Elections should ideally be between the best candidates available.  Yet it seems that the challengers must depend on manipulations and gamesmanship and believe that you are not smart enough to make your won decision on the merits of the candidates.

As much as I hate pushing one side or another in a losing game I will have to support the two incumbents in Senate and Governor because the alternatives don't hit a good chord with me.  There is something wrong here.

If it looks like a duck, quacks like a duck, and swims like a duck, it is a duck.  My advice to both parties is, can't you get real citizen legislators to carry the party banners?

SURPRISE!!!!!!

"TO SUCCEED IN LIFE, YOU NEED

TWO THINGS:  IGNORANCE

AND CONFIDENCE."

                                                   Mark Twain

     There are many ways to define success and each has his own and everyone else has theirs about yours.  If monetary measure is a standard then I failed that miserably.  But there are many other ways that are more important.  I have done a lot in my life trying to do what I love.  Most times that is the worst paying but with a lot of satisfaction.

      Of the many things that I have an interest in, some would say passion, the presence of music is as strong as anything.  Those who know me only by my opinion columns would have picked up a little about how I feel about music and the people in it.

      Many know me as being a vocalist in Western Music and a poet.  Now my music is a wider field than just Western and we have been trying to define what that is anyway for years.  Now the term Roots or Americana is probably defining things a little better.

      At a point in my life my best friends started to die and the majority have been to cancer.  The way I dealt with the loss was to dust off an old talent from high school that no one knew about, poetry.  Applying my life experiences it became cowboy and country poetry.  The things I feel strongly about like horses, cows, tractors, farming, ranching, being outdoors and being rural.  Being independent and making my own mind up about issues and not follow some party line.

      Being aware of how many times I was swerved away from things that would have turned out bad.  Enough close calls to know that when my time is done I will meet a crippled up guardian angel that took a lot of the hits for me.

      I also know that to ease the grieving from so many friends lost a new group would come from out of no where to give me hope and purpose.  I was transitioning from poetry to music, my love from high school and a little college, and joined up with a group that took me in just as I am. 

     Western Music, which is a combination of old classic cowboy tunes, classic Country & Western, Folk, Celtic, Spiritual, movies, Tin Pan Alley, Bluegrass, Hillbilly, Ethnic, Western Swing, and Rock, was booted out of Nashville and mainstream music.  Yet it exists today and is represented by the Western Music Association.

      I found a group of talented and diverse people with a streak of decency that was left behind by mainstream music long ago.  I am still amazed that this group lets me hang around with them.  I have tried to promote the music, artist, and fan whenever I could.  And still intend to even though I am slowed down temporarily.

      I was at our Kansas Chapter meeting at the Flying W Ranch in the Flint Hills last Sunday.  I am the Chapter Vice President and we had a good gathering of our members.  On the agenda there was listed a 'special presentation', which I had not any idea what it would be even though I have input into the agenda.

     When the time came there was a certificate of appreciation and a Life Membership to the WMA and I was looking around to see who had won it.  This is not something that happens often, many of our members work their tails of for the group.  The nice things they were saying I knew fit a lot of people in the room and then they called my name.

      For the first time in recent history I was speechless.  I did not see it coming.  When you love what you are doing, and the people in it, it just does not occur that anything special has happened.

     They like my ideas, wait until they hear about the show at the Ryman.

Thanks to all!

ATTENTION ALL POLITICIANS!!!!!!!

"WE HANG PETTY THIEVES AND

APPOINT THE GREAT ONES

TO PUBLIC OFFICE"

                                     Aesop

     Now pay attention all politicians.  Whether I support you or not, stop with all the half truth, pompous, gutter sniping, mud slinging, advertisements, phone calls, and mailings.  Stop trying to spin where you stand and start answering questions honestly, straight forward, and courageously!

     Any one running for office should be able to answer all questions with a YES OR NO!  I have had it and if I had hair I would pull it out.

     If you are running for office as a Democrat, Republican, Independent, Libertarian, Prohibitionist, or any other label, if you cannot answer these questions and quit bothering us.

ARE YOU?

1. PRO LIFE?
2. PRO ABORTION?
3. FOR GUN CONTROL?
4. SUPPORT SECOND AMENDMENT?
5. FOR CONTROL OF THE BORDERS?
6. FOR AMNESTY?
7. SUPPORT OUR MILITARY?
8. FOR THE FAIR TAX?
9. FOR CLOSING THE IRS?
10. FOR FREE MARKET HEALTH INSURANCE?
11. AGAINST REGULATORY AGENCIES MAINTAINING SWAT TEAMS?
12. FOR A RESTORATION OF FUNDS USED BY OTHER AGENCIES BACK TO SOCIAL SECURITY?
13. DRUG TESTS FOR WELFARE RECIPIENTS?
14. AGAINST GATHERING ALL DATA ON CITIZENS WITHOUT LEGAL WARRANT?
15. AGAINST ACTIVIST JUDGES OVERRIDING THE WILL OF THE VOTER?
16. FOR FREEDOM OF RELIGION NOT FROM IT?
17. OPENING NUCLEAR WASTE FACILITY IN NEVADA THAT HAS ALREADY BEEN BUILT FOR MILLIONS OF DOLLARS?
18. RESTORE THE CONCEPT OF MULTIPLE USE TO FEDERAL LANDS?
19. REMOVE THE ABILITY FOR 'GREEN' GROUPS TO SUE AND HAVE ALL LEGAL FEES PAID BY THE GOVERNMENT OVER ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES?
20. STOP THE DISMANTLING OF THE COUNTRY BY USING 'CLIMATE CHANGE' AS A REASON?
21. FOR BREAKING UP THE EPA?
22. SUPPORT THAT NO MILITARY ACTION BE TAKEN ANYWHERE WITHOUT CLEAR INTENT TO WIN?
23. FOR FUNDING ALREADY APPROVED IMPROVEMENT OF RIVER LOCK SYSTEM?
24. NO AGENCY OVERRIDE THE DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE ON AGRICULTURAL ISSUES?
25. STOP ALL FOREIGN AID EXCEPT FOR HUMANITARIAN?
26. STOP FUNDING THE UNITED NATIONS?
27. BUILD THE KEYSTONE PIPELINE?
28. STREAMLINE ALL LICENSING PROCEDURES FOR POWER PLANTS AND REFINERIES?

     It is not hard at all to answer these YES OR NO.  Quit bothering us with the rest and quit asking me to give you money.

FALL COWBOY STORYTELLERS

"THE PAST ACTUALLY HAPPENED

BUT HISTORY IS ONLY WHAT

SOMEONE WROTE DOWN."

                                         A. Whitney Brown

The Cowboy Storytellers of the Western Plains is an organization that started in Seiling Oklahoma over coffee from a bunch of ranchers telling stories about the old days.  It has been meeting ever since in Kansas and Oklahoma to have the locals tell the story's of the old days as close to first person as we can get.

Many get it wrong about the group coming to their area as being a group of entertainers.  No.  The group comes to hear and record your stories.  The stories of your growing up, your parents, grandparents, and the old stories you grew up listening to.

If these stories are not recorded from you they will be lost when they put you under.  That is why we need you to step up.

The Fall meeting of the Storytellers will be in Medicine Lodge Kansas on October 25th at the Senior Center 213 N. Main.  Music starts at 12:30 and meeting at 1pm.  It is open to the public.  Membership in the organization is $15/year.  You get a newsletter before each meeting.

We have been to Medicine Lodge 5 times before.  The Gypsum Hills is a great scenic area of the state.  From Medicine Lodge west 40 miles to Coldwater is the Gypsum Hills Scenic Byway.  There is the Stockade Museum and the Carey Nation home that you can visit.  A great Veterans Memorial and several places to eat.

We are also home to the MEDICINE LODGE PEACE TREATY PAGEANT which will be done in 2015.  We are home to the Kansas State Championship Ranch Rodeo and the home of Martina McBride just over in Sharon.

If you have a story to tell or need questions answered call me at 620-213-2403

GOTTCHA!!!

"I AM AN IDEALIST.

I DON'T KNOW WHERE I AM GOING,

BUT I AM ON MY WAY."

                                        Carl Sandberg

     Do young people ever irritate you?  When you were young you had the energy and vitality to believe that you knew everything, and that the old fogy's just were in the way and holding you up.  Impatience was your normal state of being.  You could not wait to drive, then you could not wait to drink.  And then you made it past those points and then those ignoring your obvious intelligence drove you to drink.

     It was said that if you were conservative when young you had no heart. and if you were liberal when old you had no brains.  Well the revenge of the elder is that at a point you will start living with aches and pains.  And then you will be having conversations with your friends about your latest ailments, the health care system, and doctors.  You will also find that the number of funerals are starting to out number the weddings you attend.

     Fall used to be my favorite time of year.  It was the season of hunting dove, quail, pheasant, and deer.  The temperatures were more pleasant and there is something about being out in God's creation that feeds the soul.  Maybe that is why I call it God's Great Cathedral. 

     Winter was fun because I could run my four wheel drive in the snow and ice and the burn on the front of a roaring fire was great fun.  Spring was nice and the farm work started.  We endured the heat of summer because the fall  was marked by the opening of Dove and Trap shooting season every September one.

     When it starts dawning on you that it is not as much fun to walk through fields for miles, more things start upsetting your stomach, and you are on first name terms with your pharmacist, you will start noticing that HEY THINGS ARE GOING BY TOO FAST!

     GOTTCHA!!  Your are no longer that young irritating know it all you used to be.  You may be the big dog at the Liars club coffee table by now, but you will notice that those young whippersnappers don't take your opinions as gospel anymore.  And the old farts are still calling you a kid as they give you the name of the latest wonder drug or the new specialist they are going to.  It is just our revenge to laugh at you for irritating us.

      

GET OUT THE VOTE

"YOU CAN'T DO IT UNLESS YOU

CAN IMAGINE IT."

George Lucas

This may be where you may think I am jumping into the fray and pushing for one side or the other in the political races.  WRONG!  You should know by know how disgusted I am with the half truths and the bloviating promises that all candidates are involved in.

No I am picking up on a article that my friend Beccy Tanner had in the Wichita Eagle last week about one of my favorite places in Kansas, Lucas.

Not only is Lucas famous for the Garden of Eden and quirky artists, (and ring bologna).  They have the BOWL PLAZA public toilet.  Now one thing that is a huge problem when you have a lot of tourists is that the availability of toilets is pretty critical.  Many of the old buildings are not up to the standards or capacity that streams of visitors put them under.

Lucas utilized their artist community and designed a public toilet that is bringing it's own tourists.  Not only well designed it is comfortable and so much in the design that you spend more time looking than doing your business.

Now you can vote to have the Bowl Plaza named number one, in number one and two, in the nation.  The Bowl is in the top ten in contest sponsored by Cintas (a company that designs restrooms) in the nation.  You simple need to go to www.bestrestrooms.com and vote.

The competition?  American Girl Place - Chicago, The Fabulous Fox Theater - St. Louis, the Tiki Lounge - Pittsburgh, and six other hoity toity restrooms.

The town residents decided in 2008 that there was a pressing need for a facility like this.  They spent four years raising the money and design it.  It is by far the blingiest toilet in Kansas.

SO GET ON LINE AND VOTE.  YOU HAVE UNTIL OCT 31 TO VOTE IN THE CONTEST.  LETS GET OUT THERE AND FLUSH OUT THE VOTE!!!!!



CAN YOU GO BACK HOME?

HAPPINESS IS NOT A STATE

TO ARRIVE AT, BUT

                          A MANNER OF TRAVELING

                                         Margret Lee Runbeck

      They always say that you cannot go back home.  In many ways this is true for we never live in the times past but only remember them.  I find that when I go back to places in my past there are a lot of good memories alive even if nothing else is.  It is always fun to set in and feel the old times yet you are still there on a visit and have to come home, where ever that is now.

      After visiting my clinic in Wichita if I time it right I avoid the traffic and travel around on paved county roads.  I find many more today than when they were a part of my fire response district.  I end up at my old stomping ground on the west end of Cheney Lake at Mt. Vernon at Creations Restaurant.

      Now Mt. Vernon has grown since a couple farm and storage sheds went up but I think the population is still around six or seven.  At the old country store next to the spot that the old dance hall sat is Creations Restaurant. 

      When I moved from poetry into music there were several of us that could see that a corner that was not in real use would be a great place to put a small stage.  Steve, the owner, was great with the idea and in a couple weeks time a stage was built and the music started.

      Every Thursday night there would be musicians wander in and out.  There might be 3 or 30 you never knew.  We had a regular crowd and it was a fun place.  I was a member of the Western Music Association and was working with the best guitar player I have ever known named Gerald Walters.  He was one of the Kingman County crowd who grew up with music in their homes on Saturday nights.  This before TV, CD, downloads, and when you charged the battery's on the radio to listen to the Grand Ole Opry in the parlor with the neighbors.
     I still get to visit with old friends and there is the memory of Prairie Dog Lafferty who I swear still haunts the place.  Sometimes a few of the local musicians pop in for a jam session.  I swear that jam session music is the best even if it is off key or the mikes are not right.  It is that live feel that makes the music special.
     Since I have been fighting health issues I have no air and when I was asked if I would sing a couple songs, I had to go by faith because I was not sure the voice was still there.  Well there was enough that I had a great time.  There is going to be something special happen at Creations around my birthday so stay tuned.
      I guess you can go home for a little bit.  But I still had to get on the road and get across that Barber County line.  Good memories.