Hey, this may just be a rumor but, it might be worth a try! I heard you can get a free delivery with this Warm Fuzzy order by request. Supposedly, its available to anyone and everyone who orders one, even if you live in a residential area! So, if you get a charge out of this, you can’t blame me! Simply read and follow these instructions.

Dear Free Delivery,
We need a touch of comfort,
Please dump it in a pile.
Then, ring our bell to remind us,
We can reach it with a smile!

How is that for a conversation starter. I guess it might be a half of a step upscale from, “Good morning, how are you this morning?” This one really sets you up for exaggerated feedback, “Oh, I’m just fine, how are you?” usually stretches the truth into the next county. At least most people don’t lie about rainfall amounts. Sometimes they even speculate how much rain fell in a neighboring town. Now that’s a real icebreaker, or not?
For my buck, rain talk is absolutely boring and leads the conversation nowhere, except to confirm how badly we may have needed the rain we got. Maybe we need to wear high heeled sneakers to elevate our thinking to higher levels. I challenge you to unfold a new wrinkle in greetings. Greet the very next person you meet with, “Good morning, tell me about a funny incident you’ve heard or experienced from BE (Before Electricity) or BIP (Before Indoor Plumbing) or choose something equal. Then stand back and be prepared for a flow of ultra rich conversation flavors. You’ll probably be drawn into a greeting conversation starter at balcony level. Delay engaging your mouth and allow your listening skills to bathe in the joy of the moment. Too often we jump in with a “That reminds me of when ________” Don’t do it! Just listen!
Memories of how much rain, soon wash away, but memories of sharing from an era BE or BIP will linger on and on. Go ahead, unfold a new wrinkle in conversation starters and surprise those you meet. This could lead to new friendships. If you know of a good greeting conversation starter, I’d like to hear from you.

Marjorie, Jeri’s best friend had just asked Jeri if she could keep a secret. The anticipation of hearing private information made tiny goosy bumps skedaddle all over Jeri’s sensitive skin. After all, she was being chosen as the only additional, sole proprietor of some rare, undisclosed news. Jeri had obviously earned the highest level of trust from Marjorie, or she wouldn’t have been included in such a secluded responsibility. She was asked to help carry and protect this evasive pocket of valuable information, “The Secret!”
Being selected to hold a secret is the only doorway known to the level of suspense it holds and here was Jeri, standing boldly in that doorway! Can there possibly be a higher rung on the ladder of importance than being a trusted friend? After all, you can’t just walk out on the street, point your finger at someone and ask them to keep a secret, especially not if it needs to be kept confidential. The immense anticipation worked on Jeri like a magnet, pulling millions of those tiny goosy bumps out to dance in celebration.
Jeri, who was chosen because of her honesty, made the “Can you keep a secret” promise sound so convincing.
By now, Jeri’s anxiety level had reached an all time high, her inner being was jittery as jelly pudding. Jeri had worked herself into a frenzy, she simply had to hear “The Secret” right now!
“WOW!” the news the secret held was explosive! Jeri, try as she might, couldn’t pull her mind away from it for a long, long time.
Jeri knew Sally. “I know,” said Jeri half whispering, “I’m going to ask Sally to keep the secret with me, I know I can trust Sally. Sally knew Joann and Joann could be trusted, Joann knew Bridget, Bridget knew Arlene, Arlene knew ________ knew _________ knew _____ and ______ knew me.
I was told “The Secret” in strictest confidence. Do you think it would it be alright for me to share it with you, or don‘t you want to hear it?

http://www.travelks.com/
North on hwy #81, almost to Nebraska.
We were ready for a one or two day away trip, so I went online, took some information off and Thursday we started to drive it. Our vehicle was filled with high hopes and eager anticipation.
Wakefield - Steve Lloyd Wetlands Area We drove past the sign and continued about ¾ mile on a very narrow path, don’t know what, if there would have been oncoming traffic. I thought we must be getting pretty close to the wetland shoreline when a very large mud puddle blocked the entire little path we were on. “You don’t suppose this is it?” We observed the pasture grasses briefly, admired the earth tones in the landscape, turned around and attacked the next leg of our journey. Having been to Mr. Lloyd’s Wetlands, our goal for Thursday, we found a nice motel between Wakefield and Washington and spent the night.
Washington - Marcon Pies 400 pies per day. Marcon Pies welcomes visitors to their production facility where they bake up to 400 pies per day. So, early Friday morning (We intentionally planned not to arrive there Sat. because they probably wouldn’t be baking pies on Sat.) our objective was to see (maybe even sample) baking up to 400 Marcon Pies a day. When we got there, sure enough they were open. We walked in and they were cleaning the ovens, “This is what we do on Friday’s. We watched them clean the ovens briefly. Then we saw some of yesterdays pies on display. One group of pies caught our attention glistening under the lights. They had granulated sugar sprinkled generously all over their top crust and identification tags reading “Sugar Free” nestled into the sugar. When we asked for an explanation, they said, “That was a bad day!” Next, we went to. Morrowville - World's First Bulldozer We had to ask directions but there it was, An old, old wooden (Oak) blade crudely mounted on an antique Fordson proudly strutting its stuff behind a chain-link fence. We looked at each other with the same unspoken question bouncing around between us, “We drove all that distance to look at this?
Haddam - Brown's Honey Farm Largest honey producers in Kansas. Member of Kansas Honey Producers Assn.. When we got to Haddam, we stopped at an auto repair shop to ask directions to Brown’s Honey Farm. I walked into a shop that looked like it belonged to the previous century. There was nothing to work on in the shop but the younger person, the son, was on the phone and that looked hopeful! I think the last updated piece of equipment they had purchased was an adjustable crescent wrench. The older gentleman, the father, asked if he could help me. I said I wanted directions to Brown’s Honey Farm. “Sure, Do you want Arnold or Gene?” “Neither or both, I’m looking for the honey processing farm.” “Oh, follow me.” I turned and walked behind him, back outside the front door and onto the front walk. He faced West and pointing straight ahead said, “You drive that way till you get to my house, turn left and go to the trees. That’s right where it is!” I tried to sight along his hand and pretended that the top of his finger had a scope on it. All I saw was a long row of houses and every one had trees. “You mean the house on top of that hill?” I offered ignorantly. “No, no, you have to go on to my house, follow me.” He got into his jeep and I followed him on to his house and we turned left. He stopped, got out and once again pointed. There seemed to be trees everywhere, but well ok. His finger said so. The plant was closed. We took pictures of some buildings and equipment of Brown’s Honey Farm.
Bellville - Boyer Gallery Features animated carvings and motion displays. The gallery has 25 lighted displays. They were closed. A phone number promised we were just an easy call away from gaining entry. We listened to that phone number go unanswered several different times, which we wouldn’t have been able to do had we not stopped by.
Clifton/Vining - LCL Buffalo Ranch & Antique Vehicle Museum Large ranch with 300 buffalo roaming the pastures. Large collection of antique vehicles and memorabilia. We didn’t see any buffalo, we know what buffalo look like and we thought with 300 roaming around , we should surely see a couple. We stopped in and they were home. The man told us that there were only about 50 to 75 roaming the grasses at this location the rest were on a ranch up North. We bought some buffalo meat and went on.
Delphos - Oldest Elevator in Kansas Sure enough, we found the elevators and there were two structures, either one could have qualified. We chose the one we thought looked the oldest and took some pictures. I stopped at the main office to confirm that we in fact chose the right elevator to take pictures of. They said, “Oh you won’t find an oldest elevator structure, we are the oldest Co-op Elevator Organization in the state of Kansas. But you picked the right structure to take the picture of, Ty Cobb’s name is carved into the wall inside that one!”
We came home!

I volunteer in “house wares” at our local Etcetera Shop. Every piece of merchandise that requires electricity, batteries or has moving parts, routes through our little corner to be checked before it goes out on the floor for sale. Sometimes we find notes, written by the donor, that are very helpful. They sometimes lead us to a place to start trouble shooting for existing problems. The other day, I picked up a string of Christmas lights with 50 bulbs on it. I plugged it in and nothing happened. That meant that somewhere along that string of fifty light bulbs, one or more were burned out. Then I saw it, sure enough, there was a note tied to one of the bulbs. Eagerly I untangled the lights enough so I could read the note. It read, “This bulb is good!“
Helpful? At least I now knew that one out of the fifty was a good bulb.
Have you heard of Etcetera Shops and their mission? Over the past 30 years our local Etcetera Shop has donated right at 1.5 million dollars to Mennonite Central Committee to be distributed around the world to confront hunger. All items for sale are donated which take over 200 volunteers to clean and/or repair them for re-sale at our local store in Newton KS.. Clothes, shoes, books, recreation equipment, exercise equipment, appliances, antiques, computers, selected furniture, toys, you name it and you might find it at The Etcetera Shop. Do you know of one in your area?