Voting for a way of life

 I wish long ago I'd had the foresight to start a notebook that I kept quotes from books that made an impression on me. I think of all the books I've read over the many years and how bits of them stayed with me. It would be interesting to read back through this notebook and be reminded.  What I have instead is index cards and lots of notebooks scattered across my life with ideas and thoughts scattered throughout. 

If I had this notebook I would dedicate several pages to the current book I'm reading Neither Wolf Nor Dog by Kent Nerburn. There is so much wisdom in his writing that comes from Dan, the Native elder in the conversations he holds with Kent.  Not a fan of nonfiction yet books on Native life do capture my attention because I'm somewhat of a "wanna-be" as Dan would call me. I admire Native life and try to incorporate parts of that into my own philosophy but I'm not over the top trying to intersect myself into or pretending to be. I encourage everyone to read this book and thank you to Sue for lending me her autographed copy! Here is one of the many quotes I relate to from the book:

"You came to this country because you really wanted to be like us. But when you got here you got scared and tried to build the same cages you had run from. If you had listened to us instead of trying to convert us and kill us, what a country this would be." (159)

Voting in Cedar Falls/Waterloo is upon us and getting out to vote is always important.  Here are my choices for local elections if you need ideas. Each candidate is linked to their website for your own research. I'm a fan of the POS model for our fire and police because I think cross-training is a great thing. In the beginning this was not handled well but I think the end result will make for a better trained emergency force. Waterloo's main issue seems to be the Griffin, a mythical creature that has been a police symbol since the 1960's. It looks remarkably like the KKK dragon and really should have been removed long ago. I hope the city can move past this issue peacefully which means listening to the many Black residents and others like myself who see this symbol as antiquated and out-of-touch. We want people in office who have an open mind and are experienced. It matters. 

Mayor for CF -Tom Blanford

CF City Council - Kelly Dunn and Carole Yates

CF School Board - Jeff Orvis, Brenda Fite, and H. Alan Heisterkamp

I appreciate all the wonderful comments about my last writing piece. I hope to incorporate more like that mixed in with my book and recipe recommendations. Thank you.