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Posts Tagged ‘Indiana’

  1. A Brief Encounter with Grammar (Important, or Get a Life?)

    May 7, 2012 by katemeadows

    One Sunday, my husband and I attended church service as we always did in Lafayette, IN. Paging through the bulletin, I noticed a typo. It bothered me – probably because I’m an English major and a writer and an all-around structure-oriented person.

    Throughout the service, I considered whether to bring up this typo to the pastor. It was a church bulletin – lots of people would be paging through it. Yet, it was a church bulletin. Did a small typo in a community church print-out matter?

    Copyright 2012, Kate Meadows, San Diego, CA.

    I ultimately decided to point out the error to the pastor after the service. He is a good family friend of ours – practically family to us, in fact. I showed him the mistake, and he wrapped his arms around me.

    “Kate,” he said, “I love you like a daughter … but get a life.”

    The words took me aback. Yep, they stung a little. Was he calling me trivial? I knew he was. Was he right? Was I so detail-oriented that I really should “get a life?”

    The other day I was having a conversation about punctuation and grammar with my mother-in-law in our living room. She was visiting for a week to help take care of our young son while I (now six months pregnant!) get the finishing touches on the small business history I have fervently been trying to finish.

    She said small issues like typos and mis-spellings distract her. One time, she said, she received a flyer in the mail from a political candidate. The flyer was full of grammatical errors. That was all it took for her to toss the flyer in the trash; it was clear to her that this candidate didn’t care about detail – which, to her, reflected on his overall character. If he didn’t care enough to polish up a political statement before sending it out the public, why would she trust him to care about bigger matters?

    Thank you! I wanted to shout from a mountain top. Someone else who actually cares about these things!

    Maybe I’m nit-picky, but I notice slip-ups everywhere: an “it’s” that’s supposed to be “its” on a billboard next to the freeway, a word missing in a blog post by a prominent media figure, a mis-spelled word in an advertising campaign, and yes, typos in church bulletins.

    I get that we all make mistakes, that not every piece of writing we produce will be sparkling and perfect. But at the rate I see these little errors, sometimes I wonder if people care anymore.

    What do you think? Do grammar and spelling and correct usage of language still matter in our day-to-day endeavors, or do those of us who care need to get a life, because usually whatever is mis-printed can still be understood in context?

    Chime in. I’m listening.

    Category Books, Writing | Tags: ,,,,,,,,,,, | 17 Comments

  2. Home, Part 1

    December 16, 2011 by katemeadows

    When I turned 18, I couldn’t wait to escape the confining, small-town life of rural Wyoming. I applied to college at a small liberal arts school in Minnesota – Gustavus Adolphus College – got accepted, and never turned back. Since then, I have married, followed my man out to his home state, Indiana, and lived in three other states, none of which is Wyoming. We are all over the map, in fact: Minnesota, Indiana, Kansas, Nebraska, and now the one most foreign to us: California. In the five years my husband and I have been married, we have endured five moves. One move per every year of our married life – that’s how it works out.

    All of this transitioning and traversing across the country continues to beg a crucial question for me: What/Where is home?

    It’s not a new question. It’s just that as life keeps happening, I revisit the question in many different ways.

    This past week, I returned to a former home of Kansas City. Our dear friends there and the cold punch of a Midwest winter gave me all the welcome I needed to feel like I was in a cozy comfort zone. I thought of southern California, so many miles away, and my stomach knotted up. Save for the one gigantic family that my family is there right now, I didn’t want to go back. The thought of returning actually made me a little sick.

    Why? I asked myself.

    Because right now, California embodies everything unfamiliar to me. Nightmare traffic. Sunshine in December. So many languages spoken you hope your hairdresser speaks English. Plastic surgery. Christmas lights on palm trees and blow-up snowmen on sparkling green lawns.

    Being in Kansas, I craved what was familiar. Longtime friends – the kinds you can share poop stories with. Peacoats. A basic knowledge of the layout of the city. A first snow.

    Being there drudged up that huge and looming question once again: What, or where, is home? I missed my family fiercely in the week I was apart from them. My family – son, Will and husband, Bryan and dog, Gracie – is home. My gracious and compassionate friends – the Coles with a brand new baby boy, the Pranns, and the Macleods with a boy who just turned one – are home. And Wyoming, where I was born and raised and where my mom and dad have lived practically since it was declared a state – will always be home.

    I was overwhelmed with a type of homesickness I have never experienced. I started to think, is it possible to be homesick for more than one place at once? The answer came easily. Of course.

    *Stay tuned for Part 2, coming Tuesday, 12/20/11

    Category Home, Place | Tags: ,,,,, | 2 Comments

  3. Fitting In

    November 18, 2011 by katemeadows

    Okay, I admit it. A born-and-bred Wyoming girl who spent the last 10 years in the Midwest, I cannot figure out to live in California. I put on socks that are too cozy because the house is freezing, when the afternoon outside heats up to 70+ degrees. I stare into my closet on November days, wondering what the heck to put on. All of my jeans have holes in them. (I should fix that.) Capris and a sweater? Does that seem hypocritical? I try it. Not bad.

    One day not too long ago, I dressed my son in a button-down flannel shirt with a moose on it (for those chilly mornings). I wondered if he would get made fun of at his daycare – because, let’s face it, people just don’t wear flannel shirts here. When I went to pick him up, his teachers were in awe that he knew what a moose was. Obviously he’s not from around here, they said.

    He’s not.

    And neither am I.

    My family moved to Orange County, Calif., in July of this year. We were coming off of eight months in Kansas City (our second time living there), which was preceded by 15 months in Omaha. My husband is an engineer, and his job takes us wherever the next power-plant-related project springs up. That means we move a lot.

    Sometimes I think we scream FOREIGNERS, louder than a robust Russian in a southern Baptist church.  It’s uncomfortable (especially when my feet are sweating in those uber-warm socks when we’re at the playground and that relentless sun is in full glory). But I don’t think it’s a bad thing.

    What’s more, I think I am learning to embrace it.

    Sure, it’s easy to get caught up in everything that sucks about moving all the time. It seems like every time we start to go deep with the new relationships we’ve cultivated in one place, we are yanked to another place where we know no one. And it sure gets tiring courting Google Maps for the millionth time, trying to figure out where the heck the nearest Target is, or where my new Spanish-speaking friend, Ruth, lives.

    Yet I can’t help but think God is working. We are learning patience and respect, for ourselves and others. We are learning that most people aren’t all that bad. (You know how your mom always said never talk to strangers? Yeah, well.) We are learning the ins and outs of numerous places, what makes them tick and how they live and breathe. Western Wyoming. Southern Minnesota. Western Indiana. Kansas City. Omaha. Los Angeles.

    And you know what? All of these places are breeding grounds for opportunity. I can say with absolute confidence and honesty that I have connections – deep connections – across the country.

    And here is something else: All of the upending, adjusting, and re-orienting that come when life throws a hurricane at you is fodder for story. As my life keeps moving, I can hardly keep up with the story material that is flying my way.

    *What life experiences have proven to be wells from which you create your own work?

    Category Home, Ideas, Place | Tags: ,,,,,, | No Comments