A Week of Storms

This past week has been very weather-busy. Almost every night since i finished school last week has been peppered with continuous weather coverage on my favorite local station, KAKE. (Yes, they named themselves after a baked good.) On one night, the coverage lasted for 8 hours straight! The meteoroligists were on from 6pm to 2am, no commercial breaks, no regular prime-time television, nothing... just watching tornadoes march across the state.

Here in Wichita, we did not get any tornadoes, but we got several severe thunderstorms with large hail and damaging winds. (This phrase, "large hail and damaging winds" is a common one around here, and for the longest time i said it wrong, with "large winds and damaging hail." But that's true enough as well.)

Unfortunately most of the storms happened after 10pm, and there was not enough light to film them or even take flash photography. Yesterday we got a little one with some hail...



It was mostly just quarter-sized, but yes, those suckers hurt when you walk outside in them!!




And then later that evening at around 9pm there was a nice lightning show off to my North, as one of the storms passed over Park City or Bell Aire Kansas...



On Thursday i will be off to take my dad to Denton, Nebraska to the Priestly Fraternity of St. Peter. A couple of his friends are being ordained in the Latin Rite there this weekend. After i drop him off on the 1st, i will spend one more night in Wichita, and then i am off on my Great American Safari!!

Telling the story of my trip through Arizona and New Mexico might take several posts over several days, but i will get it up here with pictures eventually. i look forward to having more time to read about everyone once i return! This has been a hectic time of year.

Topeka

Back in March, i went on a field trip with the 8th graders to Topeka, Kansas. As it was a history trip, most of what i did was crowd control and taking photos. i can't say why it has taken me this long to write about it, except that this is a very busy time of year. Until i had a computer issue this morning, and went to back up all my files from March on in case of a failure, and stumbled upon this pictures, i had completely forgotten about it.

i was impressed with the capitol, if not the city of Topeka itself. There is a lot of history here! Many people may not realize that Kansas became a state just months prior to the opening shots of the Civil War. Kansas "Jayhawkers" were Union sympathizers, and in the years leading up to statehood, fought bitterly to make Kansas a free Territory. Nearly 2/3 of military-aged men enlisted and fought in the War, though most of the action occurred in Missouri and elsewhere.

Kansas continued to be an exceptionally progressive state on civil rights. The first stop that we made was the Brown vs. Board National Historic Site. It was one of the black schools in Topeka from which the plaintiffs came. (There were several, around 12 i think, though most people only think of Brown.) The school is still situated in a very poor area of town, though the building itself has been renovated several times in preparation to house the museum inside.





From there we went on to the capitol building. i regret that i don't remember all the details i was told about when it was built, what all the murals mean, and so on. i do remember that the capitol's north and south wings (east and west?) were built first, and later as more money came into the fledgling state, the other two wings were added and the center built to connect them.



There are murals all over the capitol walls: the arrival of Coronado, the movement of cattle on the Chisholm Trail. This one is of the famous abolitionist John Brown, of Harper's Ferry fame. Little known fact: he led the famous Pottawatomie Massacre and several other actions against pro-slavery settlers during "Bleeding Kansas."



The dome was very impressive, and photogenic, especially from the inside.



Here is another view. The painting in the bottom center of the photograph was a personal favorite. The three women represent science, peace, and art (in that order). i like to think of art and science as the two surrounding peace.



The Kansas Senate chambers are dark and difficult to photograph. The pillars are plated copper and 24 carat gold is inlaid in the ceiling and walls.



At the end of the tour, we had a choice to make: sit back and wait or climb to the top of the dome. i am proud to say that i am the only faculty member who made it to the top! Flight after flight of inside stairs led us up to this terrifying staircase in the center of the dome. The last spiral leads to a narrow walkway at the top of the builing.



Unfortunately, this was the view from the top.... hm..... it was also exceptionally cold and windy, but that's Kansas for you. And this is Topeka for you. It's not the most attractive city on the planet, just an industrial working town that happens to be host to the state business of Kansas. i was told that the view is better on a beautiful spring day. Aren't they all? was my response.



At least i got some bragging rights with the other teachers...



The last stop was the Kansas history museum. i was tired by this time and didn't take too many pictures, but at least i finally learned that these things...

...(which are all over Kansas) are not for electricity. They actually pump water from the ground using wind energy. Kansans have been using them since pioneer days. In some little towns in Kansas, it looks like they have been using the same ones since pioneer days. But that's a post for another day.