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Dannebrog

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John thrilled me, as did so many of the people that I met in Dannebrog. I don’t know what ailment John has suffered, but signs of surgery to his throat and an inability to speak were apparent. What I treasure about John, though, was his face-wrinkling, leg extending laughter as the men in the Danish Baker bantered and boasted. After we talked for a while and I had given some insight around my travels into conversations, John got up to leave. A hand like an anvil weighed on my shoulder while his other hand thrust an affirming thumb up gesture. His face lit up with earnest appreciation as he shook my hand. In many ways John reminded me of my father, who died five years ago of throat cancer. Perhaps my affection for the men of Dannebrog is because their earnestness, humility, humor and sense of community is exactly what my father would have relished about this place.

IMG_2403It could also be because of people like Tom Schroeder, the owner of the Danish Baker. Alone after the breakfast crowd had departed and we’d been chatting for a while, Tom grabbed his guitar and sang me a song about his wife of 36 years. Then, as a patron (Mike, whom I met later) walked in, Tom checked he did not want food and then took me to his home to show me around. Let me repeat that: Tom left the cafe, with its cash register on the counter and with Mike serving his own coffee, so that he could give me a tour of his home. Tom is a treasure. He is the kind of person that once encountered is not forgotten and you feel all the better for having met him. “I just love people,” Tom told me.

When we returned to the Danish Baker about 45 minutes later, Mike had been joined by Russell, John and Darrel. I asked them what community meant, Mike replied, “What you see right here.”IMG_2421

A word on process

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When I conceived the approach to a couple of 830 mile long conversations, I had anticipated setting up a table, a couple of chairs and a canopy in a public space in the towns that I visited and then inviting people to talk with me. It was always apparent, though, that the context of each engagement, the vagaries of the weather and the circumstances of the moment would influence this approach. So it has proven.

830_Katie_Kiper_8.10.15In Omaha, my set up was outside Millard branch library with the planned arrangement. As I moved into rural Nebraska, however, the heat of the day, the locational footfall or paths people took in their daily lives, and timing all affected the set up of the conversation space. In Pender, the public park was entirely empty, but the pool was full of children. Pender’s Main Street was also quiet and would stay that way until the pizza place and bars got busier in the evening. In Wayne, I was able to set up on Main Street outside a popular retail store, Rustic Treasures. However, as soon as the sun moved past 1pm I needed to move. That took me into The Coffee Shoppe, also on Main Street.

830_Stuart_in_The-Coffee-Shoppe_Wayne_8.12.15The questions arising are not just logistical, but speak to something more important socially and for community at large: Where are the public spaces at which we congregate to connect, dispute, protest and celebrate? The few locations that spring to mind in Omaha are the junction at 72nd & Dodge and the footbridge across Dodge at Memorial Park.

830_Natalie_Barber_8.12.15In endeavoring to talk with town residents I have learned that my approach has to be adaptable. There are those times and places where a formal or informal set up outside works well if people are passing by and those times when I need to go where people convene, such as at Vel’s Bakery in Wayne or at Mama’s & Nana’s in Neligh. Then there are other occasions, as in Pender on Tuesday with Brent and Julie, and in Neligh on Friday with Butch, when I just have to approach people wherever I see them, be it the sidewalk, retail store or coffee counter.

Whatever approach I have used, it has been a rewarding adventure into conversation so far.

Lukas and Mark

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The young professional and entrepreneurial spirit in Wayne, Nebraska has a couple of standouts in Lukas and Mark, who own both Rustic Treasures and The Coffee Shoppe adjacent to it on Main Street. Although Lukas could count on both hands the number of similar entrepreneurs, he observed that their slice of Main Street is a vibrant retail hub. I observed in turn that Lukas is vibrant. His enthusiasm is uncontainable and he’s a chatterbox, but a smart, insightful and entertaining one. Mark is the calm and unflappable one, according to Lukas.

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Lukas

The success of their business, Rustic Treasures, can be seen in the numbers, in a year growing staff from a couple to six full-time and four part-time and increasing revenues threefold. But it isn’t just their success that caught my attention, it is that they are a paradigm of the entrepreneurial ethos that every community should be seeking and nurturing. Lukas, for example, told me that he cleans the street of trash every morning along their entire block. They use social media not only to promote their store, but as a retailing extension to publicize new or sought after items, creating a sense of urgency that attracts customers who race for that piece. As for engagement, the two team members I engaged with, Lauren and Nancy Jo, manifested the kind of commitment, enjoyment and fulfillment that other businesses pay thousands of dollars to conjure in their culture. Their passion extends to community, with Lukas volunteering in economic development activities and Mark, a gifted chorister, performing in their church choir. In some respects, their public profile is almost too much of a burden.

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Mark

Omaha could do well to learn from the personal and business philosophy demonstrated by Lukas and Mark. And that is a problem. While Lukas is part of an initiative that brings together other rural catalysts, he notes a disinterest from the larger urban hubs of Omaha and Lincoln. It seemed to me that Lukas was not just discouraged, but upset at the rejection, as if the more prominent urban centers were too proud or, as Lukas said, “snooty,” to embrace young professionals and entrepreneurs beyond their borders. Lukas told me he had thought of attending the Omaha Young Professionals Summit, but wondered if a lack of confidence had prevented him. I laughed at the suggestion, given how motivated and ebullient Lukas is, though now I wonder if he was revealing truthfully the insidious impact of feeling neither included nor affirmed.

I admire the vigor of the business community in Omaha, especially on the part of younger professionals. Yet I was reminded by Lukas and Mark that we can be guilty of an insularity that is afforded us by the comparatively ready market and money in that city. I am guilty of the same myopia. Being embraced so openly and intelligently, however, by Lukas and Mark and being impressed by their effervescent approach to life and work made me realize that we need to nurture these opportunities to learn and connect. We must go to these places and connect with these people. We must create space to invite them and their insights to our communities. After all, if we are unwilling to learn from others demonstrating unique success and to explore uncharted places and perspectives, just how entrepreneurial are we?

It’s because you waved

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“It’s because you waved,” said Luke.  In his early twenties and studying intercultural studies in Omaha, Luke was the first person to stop and engage in conversation with me as part of this project, a couple of 830 mile long conversations. He stopped because of that wave and my welcome. It is premature to begin filtering for commonalities, though I can say that the people I engaged with, whether at Millard branch library in Omaha, West Point, Pender and Wayne, demonstrated a curiosity and willingness to interact. For his part, Luke had moved when he was 13 to Spain with his family (his Dad did missionary work and was a military contractor). Luke lived in Europe for 5 years. It remains to be seen if broad exposure to different cultures is a theme arising out of this project, but it is impossible not to want to explore that thought as I go.

IMG_2121It is at this time worth noting, perhaps, my own capacity to be curious and to engage. The point building up to the moment of departing Omaha was unexpectedly difficult. I was caught by surprise at the emotional sadness of leaving my wife behind and confronting a solitude I suddenly felt unprepared for, however romantic it had seemed before then. The road offers its own cure for such melancholy, and Garry in West Point was the tonic needed, with his fascinating upbringing, personality and current professional role. His formal title is the Economic Development Director for Cuming County yet, as Garry remarked, his efforts are better described as community development. More on Garry in due course…

IMG_2119The road into West Point features a large advertisement by West Point Dairy claiming they are hiring. What caught my eye was the $1,000 signing on bonus. What caught my eye amid the open, green landscape of Nebraska’s farmland was the juxtaposition of man-made protuberances. An array of steel mounds, spires, ribs and rails appeared as half finished fun fairs, fantastic and gleamingly enticing in their surroundings, like the set in Fellini’s 8½.

IMG_2101I am learning, with apologies to the towns that are part of my learning curve, that there are times and places to find people. It is not easy to recognize easily where the public spaces are, where people mingle, intersect and engage frequently. I arrived in Pender too late for the morning crowd that Ann, the town’s librarian, told me about and too early for the evening crowd that Jason at The Pender Times told me would frequent the bar and pizza joint on Main Street. I did, however, chat to a few people on Main Street, including Brent. He has lived in Pender his entire life, with family in town and within two hours of the area. I asked Brent why he had been so willing to talk with me and he explained that he knew everyone’s name in town but that he did not know me. When he saw me walking down the street, “In that hat,” he was curious. Although I initiated the conversation, in hindsight it was clear that he had made himself available for that interaction, sitting conveniently but unobtrusively along my walking path, and looking at me as I approached.

Now, I am in Wayne, and after a wander along Main Street am preparing for a day with community.

Glacier Creek Preserve

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Given how calming and serene Glacier Creek Preserve is, it required a deliberate effort to recall it is just outside the city of Omaha. Soon to span the entire Glacier Creek watershed, this ecologically and geologically diverse preserve focuses research, education and a pure pleasure on our historic, natural heritage – the Tallgrass Prairie. The passion of Barbi Hayes and Tom Bragg in establishing and growing this preserve is evident and I was grateful for a tour in Barbi’s company.

imageThe preserve features a barn like no other. Formerly on Barbi’s farm a few miles away, it was moved to the preserve and fitted out as a high-tech field lab, office, research and education center. Yet the vision for the preserve is not limited to the sciences. Barbi anticipates art and other cultural interactions with and within the environment, such as an installation by Jacob Mosher and choreographed dance performances that embrace a synergy with the natural landscape. Barbi’s multidisciplinary perspective encourages the full potential of this place, bringing it and us more fully to life.

This is the stuff of poetry

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“Here’s to the unseen, the rooted,
that unopened envelope yet to discover.”

– from “Earth” by Twyla M. Hansen, Nebraska State Poet

The Nebraska State Poet, Twyla Hansen, posted an encouragement on Facebook for people to pause and chat awhile with me during my travels through conversation. I gratefully noted that support, but then came across this observation in her post: “Folks, this is the stuff of poetry!” In some sense, I have resisted the description of the project as poetic, perhaps because poetry is rarely perceived as a compelling spur to interest and curiosity. Yet I felt a surge of warmth when I read Hansen’s exuberant recognition. a couple of 830 mile long conversations hardly compares to, say, Homer’s Odyssey, but at a personal level for me and the Nebraskans that become a part of this adventure, I hope we imbue it with something of the romantic, pure and profound essence that we find in Hansen’s poetry.

Omaha World-Herald Story

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The talented Casey Logan recently wrote a marvelous article about the project in the Omaha World-Herald. Casey is an attendee at many Squishtalks events, including a turn as the mystery presenter at the third Arthaus12 where he provoked conversation around the “art of truth.” I was thrilled that Casey’s interest in conversation and a good story led him to pen the piece, which you can read here.

Interview with Michael Lyon, KIOS FM

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I had the pleasure of being interviewed by Michael Lyon, Local Anchor – Morning Edition, on our NPR affiliate, KIOS FM, as part of its events calendar programming. This was the first collaboration of several with Michael as KIOS shall be following a couple of 830 mile long conversations as it progresses. Tune to KIOS 91.5 FM and journey with me. In the meantime, listen to Tuesday’s interview below.

Steinbeck’s Travels with Charley

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In my teens I read Of Mice and Men, which led me to Grapes of Wrath and Cannery Row. It was in Steinbeck’s Travels with Charley, though, that the seed of my interest in America took root. Some thirty years later that compulsion has matured. Now, I intend to venture onto the American byways crossing Nebraska, into its communities and into conversational engagement with its people, my statewide neighbors.