Do you smell Funnel Cake?

Mmmmmm? Can you smell it? The sweet, bready aroma drifting upon the air. You inhale, savoring the fragrance of the doughy-goodness infused with the essence of powdered sugar. (Well, ok, I like mine drenched in powdered sugar!) The fact that it is deep fried in oil does not deter you, after all, there can’t be more than 3000 calories per funnel cake!?

Its Oregon Trail Days again in Western Nebraska! That means: Food Fair. Street Dance. Music. Carnival. BBQ. Car show. Quilt fair. Chili cook-off. Wine tasting. Parades. Square dancing. Did I mention Food Fair? And the list goes on. Visit the official website so you don’t miss out on the action: http://www.oregontraildays.org/

I grew up all over the world in a variety of big cities. With that in mind, some people thought I would have a hard time adjusting to a small town but I absolutely LOVE it. Oregon Trail Days is one of those reasons. There is something special about a community that blocks off whole sections of town in order to promote people to gather and have a good time together.

Being an insurance agent in a smaller town is also one of the reasons I love my career so much. Working, shopping, and living in the same community as my clients, I am better able to help them protect the things that they value the most. And along the way many of these people become my good friends. There is nothing better than that. (Except maybe Funnel Cake!)

Does your community have a special celebration? What’s your favorite part?

Super Heroes in Western Nebraska

It is 7:25 pm. The sky outside is getting darker and darker. The Weather Channel desktop icon begins flashing yellow, then red. The wind that had been whipping the trees suddenly ceases to blow and the air becomes eerily calm. The birds stop chirping. The weather alert radio begins screeching. The woman grabs her laptop, cell phone, superhero cape, and uneaten dinner off the grill as she runs downstairs to the blaring of the tornado siren and the beating of the first hail stones. While desperately trying to remain calm (superheroes never panic and definitely don’t throw up), the woman begins to receive phone calls about storm damage. Her fingers fly across the keyboard

Tornado Season

Many of the postings I have done have a light, fun, and informative flavor, which is the whole purpose of this blog. However, summer storms can be quite serious and thus, this posting is meant to provide you with helpful and possibly life saving information.


Ready America is a national public service advertising (PSA) campaign designed to educate and empower Americans to prepare for and respond to emergencies including natural and man-made disasters. Their website, www.ready.gov/america/getakit/familyneeds.html , provides terrific information about emergency preparedness. I urge you to visit their site to create an emergency kit for your household. Ready America provides a detailed list of suggested items for your kit, some of which include:

Where do all the tumbleweeds go?

Driving down the highway the other day fighting the 90 mile per hour winds (you think I’m exaggerating but I’m NOT!) I pondered this and many other life altering questions:


• So, really, where DO the tumbleweeds go?

• And for that matter, where do they come from in the first place?

• And why the heck do they run in herds that attack your car when you least expect it?

Munchkins and Memories

I was reading the newspaper today and came across this headline: “Raabe, ‘Wizard of Oz’ Munchkin actor, dies at 94”. Do you know which Munchkin he was? He played the forensic pathologist. No, I am not confusing the “Wizard of Oz” with CSI or Dexter…. There really was a forensic pathologist in the movie. Mr. Meinhardt Raabe was the Munchkin official with the solemn yet profoundly jubilant duty of making the determination that the Wicked Witch of the East had passed on to wherever Wicked Witches go when they are squashed by flying houses. (It can’t be a good place!) It should be noted that Mr. Raabe was no run-of-the-mill pathologist, however. Holding the the official death certificate, his pronouncement was extremely detailed as he stated with authority,

“As coroner I

must aver,

I thoroughly examined her,
And she’s not only merely dead,
She’s really most sincerely dead!”

Do you remember the “magic” of this movie? I do.