Please be patient
For the next month or so, things are going to be a little more hectic around the Hillsboro Star-Journal office.
That's because our office manager, writer, and all-around wonder woman Cathy Davis isn't here.
Many of you already know that Cathy had to go in for major surgery last week. According to Charity, she got out of the hospital on Sunday, and she's doing fine. I'm sure she would appreciate a spot on your prayer list as she's recuperating — surgery is never fun, no matter what kind it is.
It'll probably embarrass her for me to write this, but it's true: Cathy keeps this office running. We're like a wounded runner limping along when she's not here.
We'll survive somehow. But before she makes her return in a month or so, we'll be a little short-handed around here.
So if you call the office and nobody answers the phone, don't get upset. If you stop by to drop off something in person and there's a sticky note on the door saying "Be back in 30 minutes," don't get angry.
We'll get back to the office as quickly as we can. We're just out working on next week's stories.
Please be patient with us!
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I'm usually not prone to the "segmented" column myself, but there's a book I've got to tell you about: It's called "PrairyErth," written by William Least Heat- Moon.
The author is well-known for his book "Blue Highways," which he wrote after spending several months traveling across the country, getting to know the back roads of America.
I finished that book this summer, and now I'm into the first hundred pages of "PrairyErth."
The subtitle of the book is "Deep Map," and that's definitely what it is — a map that digs deep into the culture and environment of Chase County, Kansas.
I've got to warn you, it's not light vacation fare. It's not something you can speed through on a Saturday afternoon like a John Grisham novel. At 624 pages, you're headed for a long journey.
I don't know if I can summarize what it's about in just a few words, but here goes: It describes why I love Kansas.
You know what I'm talking about. People say, "What is there in Kansas?" And you try to describe the feeling of standing on the prairie, of watching the clouds move across a huge, huge sky, of meeting people who were born, raised, and probably will die within ten miles of the same spot.
I can't articulate it exactly. But William Least Heat-Moon does.
"PrairyErth" is a massive book, but it's well worth the plunge.
— JENNIFER WILSON
