Searching

Last weekend, Jeff presented me with a map of Noble County, Oklahoma, and all the "named places" there. He said that, aside from the county seat and a few towns that still have purposes (Northern Oklahoma College, for instance), most of them are now ghost towns. So we drove around the back roads of the county searching for them. We did find Marland, which definitely rose to the occasion of Freeport, if not Bluff City, but i didn't take any pictures. Marland, Oklahoma is squarely in the Ponca Nation, and most of the people who live there are Ponca Indians.

The map was a little vague, and despite my navigational genius, it had a fatal flaw (namely, it said that OK 156 continued east until it ended and gave way to back roads beyond US 177, but unfortunately OK 156 makes a northerly turn in Marland that was not indicated by the hand-drawn map) so we ended up wandering through the back roads of Kay County, and found no more ghost towns. However, i did have a wonderful time looking out over the prairies in springtime. They are strikingly green, greener than i have ever seen the trees in Pennsylvania or the spartina grass on the coast of South Carolina. Photographs do not do it justice, but here are a few.


Springtime is delicious on the Great Plains. Winter is long and harsh, and the land becomes stark and uninteresting. The winds whip across the fields and can cut into you even through multiple layers of clothes. When spring finally comes, it is spectacular. But there's no such thing as free lunch, and here the beauty of a new season comes with a number of dangers. Most familiar to the rest of the country is the tornadoes. (No photos yet... i'm working on it.) The other may be familiar to you bar-hoppers (or former bar-hoppers): prairie fires. In the Flint Hills of Kansas, this is the time of year people will travel there, supposedly from nation-wide, to see the controlled burns. They will find a hilltop and perch there as the sun goes down, to watch the lights across the sea of grassland. But you don't have to travel far to find them. i have seen several in my back-road jaunts. Here is one that was small enough to drive up to and photograph safely.


When my mother came to visit Kansas, she could see the charm here but not why i am so enchanted by it. my father understood immediately. i don't know that i can describe it. But it's just... different. And that's what i was really looking for. i will not stay here forever, but i will always remember the arc of the Kansas sky, and the wide open feeling of freedom. i remain a mountain girl, and a forest lover. But i can understand now why prairie natives feel claustrophobic in the shadow of high peaks, and why they have been caught saying things like, "I don't like the Rockies. They block my view of the stars."

Six Word Philosophy

i feel so special, i got my first blog tag. Thanks Andrea!

i'm supposed to give my six-word philosophy on life and then tag other people to do the same. So, here it is...

Fear is temporary; regret is forever.

The way i see it, you can spend your life being afraid, or you can spend your life sucking all the joy you can out of it. Either way, it will fade away, and in the end, all you have are the experiences you have made for yourself and the wisdom you have passed on. i don't want to lie on my death bed and realize that i never lived. Fear can be a paralyzing thing, but there is no such thing as courage without it.

In most any game, you will lose more often than you win. And in that spirit, i have lost a fair share. i cried so many tears over the loss of my daughter, more so than i can imagine anyone knows but for parents who have buried children. i have wandered far from loved ones whom i miss with a sucking ache. i have faced punishment and persecution for my beliefs.

But over those same years, i have also placed my hands in the rich blackness of North Dakota soil, slept under the stars as the Atlantic ocean lapped against the rocky coast of Maine, and stood on the precipice of a cliff in the middle of the Kansas prairie. i have known the love of a good man, and passed many quiet mornings in his arms. And i have earned the respect and admiration of people who inspire me.

To live richly, passionately, and deliberately, no matter the cost, no matter the risk. That is what i carry in my heart every day.


Now... as for the people i 'tag'? Here you go... though i'm not sure how many of you are paying attention...

Jeff
Stephanie
Nate
Caroline (even though someone already tagged her... but she hasn't done it yet, so... maybe another one will help?)

Springtime and the Livin' is Easy

i have little to write about today, but it has been a beautiful day! i've gotten to spend most of it outside as well with my students conducting a heart rate lab on the track. Kansas springs are not as early as South Carolina springs, and not nearly as reliable as Pennsylvania springs. i remember at Clemson, spring would arrive by March 1 every year, faithfully. In Pennsylvania, it doesn't arrive until May, but once it does, it is there to stay! In Kansas, winter and spring take turns for a month or so. At that's where we are now. Nonetheless, the signs are getting more visible:






Some developments in life that i have neglected mentioning here are:
-i have been relieved of physics duty!! After next year, i will be teaching Earth Science again, and i cannot wait.
-i have located KJAS (Kansas Junior Academy of Science) and have scheduled myself to be a judge in May so that i can get a sense of how things work around there. i will be teaching experimental design as an elective next year to kids who want to participate.
-i have discovered a love of team teaching. Two colleagues of mine are teaching an elective right now on flight, and it rockets my socks off! i love getting to talk to them every day while we work.


So yesterday, i'm out with my advanced class and they are taking great data for their labs. It was windy. And when i say it's windy, it's like a South Carolinian saying it's hot. Take my word for it. Kansas is serious about wind.

So it was windy, and i was complaining. One of the girls said, "Miss K, do you know why Kansas is so windy?" And i said, "Yes, but i get the feeling that this is a joke and the geographical position of the state is not the punchline." She ignores my snarky remark and gives me the punchline, "Because Nebraska blows and Oklahoma sucks."

Fabulous. Fabulous.