May 13, 2013 - St. Cloud, Minnesota. My I Phone told me that it was 70 degrees and sunny today. I have stood out in the rain looking for that sun, while shivering in my jacket.... When did we decide that an I Phone was a better source of weather information than... actually standing outside? A bit frustrated, I dove into a Caribou Coffee to catch up on mail and the blog while waiting for a car repair (always it seems there is a car repair). I ended up in one of those spontaneous conversations with a man and his daughter and another customer over America and where we are heading. We all begin with clichés and deeply held positions, though we differed in our fundamental beliefs. In the end we reached a consensus - not on our specific issues, but in how to talk about them. The quest really for me in these trips seems to be trying to discern a way that we can talk about our differences that doesn't lead to anger and antagonism. Dialogue in a way that builds synthesis not dissolves into antagonism. We did it here. Shaking hands in parting. I felt the seed of something - some solution ticking my brain, just out of reach. perhaps I will let this percolate for a bit. Looking for others thoughts on this - e mail me at cwrecord@aaska.net, or post some thoughts on Facebook.... Enough for now, the car repair is done!