Change Is Like Quarters And Dimes

It's been a little over a year now since C and I moved north.  As I look back, I can see that some of my personal behaviors have changed - a number of them significantly so.  Still, there are parts of life that have remained the same, which is a surprising fact on its own.  This whole experience has seemed a little like being born over again and having to figure things out from scratch.

In a good way.

Non-shockers:

• I drive less... much less, but I haven't actually found that I walk more.  I just... don't... go... anywhere.
• I've stopped shaving my legs so frequently.  When it's -20* and God has given you natural long underwear, you don't go around just lopping it off in the name of being en vogue.  We are so past vogue.  

We're so far past it that we're behind it again.

• I drink (if it's possible) more coffee than before, but I don't pay $4.25 for it.  I fill up at the grocery store, right next to the Chester Fried Chicken case, for like, one whole dollar.
• I have no idea if skinny jeans and Ray Bans are still trendy.  Are they?  Or can we finally move on to suspenders and Muck boots?
• I cook more.  That is, unless it's summer, in which case I don't cook at all, which is glorious.
• I am less driven into madness by Wal-Mart (less is still some, mind you).  One-stop shopping is kind of a big deal up here, even for newbies.
• I can still buy local eggs.
• I don't miss pop radio.   Would you?
• I am still learning the difference between Sunday Lunch and Sunday Dinner... or is it Supper?

Shockers:

• I've started wearing eye shadow.  This is a little ironic, considering 1) I work in my basement and mostly go out only to get the mail, and 2) I'll have to drive an hour and a half to buy more when I run out.  

Or, more likely, i'll just quit wearing eye shadow.

• I don't lock my door.  I used to do that, back when there was a reason to lock your door... or someone to lock outside of it.  Now, I mostly want to lock people in.  Visitor-people.  This could be you.
• Is that a squirrel in the freezer?  Oh, yes - yes it is.  

Yes. 

It.

Is.

• I have a bird feeder.  It's the middle of nowhere, in 0* weather, and I can't get any birds to eat at my bird feeder.  What are they thinking?
• Instead of getting a real hair cut, this morning I just had C snip off "the mullet part" before I got in the shower.
• I have cable [and a hipster somewhere falls down dead every time I turn it on].
• I can purchase marrow bones, chicken livers and Snow Cap lard at the same place I buy my shoes.
• I find myself racing out of the house, at 11PM, in only my pajamas, to catch a glimpse of the Northern Lights.

I know what you're wondering and no, I haven't seen them.  

Cold for nothing.

• I have driven a front-end loader, albeit only for a minute or two, and I was mostly just holding the brake.  They can't take that away from me.
• My friends enter raffles for MACHINE GUNS.  You know who you are.  

I still struggle to be on time for anything, and I continue to impress hosts of people with my uncanny ability to strangle the life out of stories, but of all the things that have changed or stayed the same over this year, I'm most grateful for my friends.  

The good.  The bad.  The ugly.  Especially the ugly; nothing makes you feel good like an ugly friend.

Just kidding.  You got me.

It's the special friends that make you feel good.

  

Kansas: A Story of Prohibition, Fried Chicken, and Flat Camp

Well Sister, you’re in Kansas right now visiting one of your best friends, and it got me thinking:  what’s actually in Kansas?  I’m sure that when you return, you’ll fill me in on all the fun coffee joints and late night eateries of Lawrence, as well as some cool trails or places you go to walk the dogs, but until then, I’ve got to satisfy my curiosity in my own way, via a swim through the interweb.

Kansas is right next to Arkansas.  I seriously didn't know this, or at least didn't realize it.  I guess arkansas should have given it away, but then again, we both know I'm not a quick learner, so no surprise here.

Kansas was a place of nasty clashes during the pre Civil War era.  Apparently Free-Staters as well as pro-slavery southerners flocked to the state with plans to either hold the practice from infiltrating the border with Missouri or intentions of welcoming it state-wide.  The confrontation was inevitable, and that's how the state earned the nickname "Bleeding Kansas".

In January of 1861, Kansas entered the Union as a slave-free state.  Unfortunately, two years later, due to still-seething unrest, your destination town was raided, destroying much of the city structure and killing 200+ people.

Because cowboys had a tendency to be so nasty, Kansas adopted alcohol prohibition in 1881.  I wonder how long that lasted.  Wikipedia didn't tell me.

Big Brutus is the largest electric shovel in existence.  It's in West Mineral, Kansas.

source

Contrary to popular belief, Kansas is not the flattest of the United States.  It ranks between 20 and 30th on the list.  I can't believe there's a list for that.  I wonder if there's a camp for those states on the lower end of that measure.  It could be called "Flat Camp".  

From 1950 to 2006, Kansas reported the second-most tornadoes in the country, bested only by Texas.  This, I suppose, is a good contest to lose.

There's supposed to be more than 6,000 ghost towns in Kansas.  I'd like for you to visit one for me, which doesn't sound like it will be that hard.  There's even a trip guide.

Farmers Insurance employs more than 3,000 people in Kansas.  I wonder if they think that's funny, or if it's just an old joke now.

There is a Kansas portion and a Missouri portion to Kansas City.

Crawford County is the "Fried Chicken Capitol" of the state.  Perhaps Flava Flav should have thought twice about going into business out of business in Iowa.  Wrong state, buddy.  

Lastly, there's Kansas, the band of 6 boys from Topeka.  I hope you are finding a way to mix them into your trip soundtrack somehow.

I hope you're having fun, but remember that Dorothy was just a sheltered and confused little girl.  Sure, there's no place like home, but probably it's not Kansas.  Come home soon.