Letter to the Editor- Charm-maker was visiting Whitakers

To the Editor:

How lovely to write a little news article about the charm I left in your town. I just found out. Here are the links to the blog posts about Kiama's Charm in Odessa: http://catherinapetitvanhoey. blogspot.co.uk/2013/07/kiamas-charm-no-18-is-found.html

http://catherinapetitvanhoey. blogspot. co.uk/2013/08/kiamas-charm-no18-news-coverage.html

Catherina

Hertfordshire, UK

And from the blog:

I had a lovely email/comment from two children, Makayla and Charleigh, from Odessa in Washington, who found charm no.18 hanging off a park bench.

The shadows on the grass were created by (a) signpost sculpture, which is why I chose this site, as it looked a fun and creative way to direct people to the town shops and services. There is even a symbol with an artist palette on it, making an association with Kiama's love for art.

Originally my eye was caught by (a) large grain silo near the petrol station, where we were filling up for our way back to Ellensburg.The letters DARE made me think of a line in Kiama's bucket list: "be spontaneous and dare yourself"

If you click on the picture and zoom in you will further read "to keep kids off drugs". This made an even stronger impact on me as Kiama was so strong against drugs, alcohol and other intoxicating substances. She was very social and outgoing, a real party girl, who could dance anybody’s socks off, but she wouldn't join in abusing her body and mind. She preferred to be awake and aware and live a healthy lifestyle.

We were staying one night in Odessa on the Whitaker grassfed beef ranch and although we have been vegetarian for quite some years, I do like Richard's way of raising his cattle, with care, plenty of space and totally organic. We had a lovely time of interesting conversations, lovely vegetarian food with lots of organic homegrown vegetables, a private music gig of Richard's own songs, accompanied by his lovely wife, Ladawna, and sister Mary and to top it off, for John, a very cold dip in the cattle trough filled with water from their stream.