A serious technical glitch has not only prevented me from getting episodes out in the past couple of weeks, but has also lost most of my work over the past few months to the digital ether-world! The first thing I thought of when I digested the news? Less than comforting words from an old Mark Twain novel.
On a hilltop in Kansas stands a weather-beaten monument to the Indian, who at the time of the placement of the statue was becoming a memory of days gone by. The statue continues it’s vigil over the valley below but in the overgrowth of the hill, it is unseen, except for those who know where to look. The Indian, the statue, has a story that mirrors the Indian, the people.
The Air Conditioning gave up the ghost this weekend, so I have a few things I’m juggling along with this podcast schedule, but it got me to thinking about a few things…so here are a few of those thoughts.
Even out here in the windswept section of the place where the Great Plains, the Ozark Mountains and the Indian Territory collide, small, sometimes forgotten things may have a bigger impact than you know. An important discovery near the little burg of Dexter, Kansas, or the lack of that discovery had a big impact on another burg, the Hindenburg which exploded as it was mooring in New Jersey in 1937. That, at the time unprofitable, discovery would have an impact on air travel and the efforts into space.
Back in the day, local TV news was important, especially the weather forecast, here in Tornado Alley. One Weatherman here in the place where the Great Plains, the Ozark Mountains and the Indian Territory collide developed a great gimmick to get kids to watch the forecast. The gimmick? The chance to hear your name on TV and get a drawing from the weatherman himself! The weatherman was the legendary Don Woods and the gimmick was the equally legendary Gusty, the little drawing he did twice daily for 35 years.
He drew in kids to watch for their chance to win a Gusty drawing, but they also learned a little about the weather. This was Don Woods goal. He also created a bond of trust between his viewer and himself that was only part of his legacy.
Within the Realm 