There's No Place Like Home

 They often say that during your freshman year of college you learn and experience so many new things since you, often for the first time, interact with people with diverse backgrounds, beliefs, ideas, etc.  Sometime students struggle with or are shocked by this new information about a world they thought they knew.*  I specifically remember a moment such as this that occurred my freshman year at K-State.  I was sitting with a group of friends in the dining hall enjoying the special Kansas Day meal and reminiscing about celebrating Kansas Day in elementary school.  A few of the gals at the table were from out-of-state so I asked how they celebrated their statehood.  I was shocked to find out they didn't.  There wasn't a quirky day set aside to be extra proud of being from Nebraska, New Mexico, or Oklahoma.  They didn't spend a week every year coloring pictures of the state seal, bird, or other important historical items.  They didn't learn about sod houses, making butter, or square dancing.  How sad.  Later on while in Kansas City for grad school a women's Bible study had a dinner around Kansas Day and was to bring dessert.  I decided Kansas Dirt would be perfect-- chocolate pudding, whipped cream, and oreos-- in view of the holiday.  I was then surprised that people living in Johnson County didn't celebrate with as much gusto as others across the state.  (Another reason to kick Johnson County out of Kansas due to a lack of state pride.  Arthur says we can't do that since our state needs their tax revenues.)

* Another world-rocking moment when my belief system was turned upside down in college was when I found out that St. Bernard dogs carry brandy in the thermos around their necks.  Ever since I was a child I thought they carried hot chocolate in those thermoses because that's what my mom told me, probably trying to avoid answering questions about alcoholic beverages from a 5 year old.  Arthur was actually the person to point out my naivete.

Lately I have wanted to move to Utah.  There is a lot of mountains, deserts, and forests.  Opportunities for hiking, biking, kayaking, and camping abound.  Utah is a state that ranks fairly high in living an active lifestyle and in overall health.  They even celebrate Pioneer Day which is essentially the same as Kansas Day.  However, I am a Kansan, born and raised.  We think and daydream about living in exotic, far off places (like Colorado or Utah) but we can't seem to leave the prairie.  I think the following passage from L. Frank Baum's The Wonderful Wizard of Oz speaks to this:

 “I cannot understand why you should wish to leave this beautiful country and go back to the dry, gray place you call Kansas."
"That is because you have no brains," answered the girl. "No matter how dreary and gray our homes are, we people of flesh and blood would rather live there than in any other country, be it ever so beautiful. There is no place like home."
The Scarecrow sighed.
"Of course I cannot understand it," he said. "If your heads were stuffed with straw, like mine, you would probably all live in beautiful places, and then Kansas would have no people at all. It is fortunate for Kansas that you have brains.” 

Kansas does seem to have the reputation of being a "dry, gray place" to the untrained eye.  However I read somewhere lately that the beauty of Kansas is in the details.  You have to get off the beaten path (that would be I-70) and take a closer look.  No there aren't imposing mountains, grand cities, or endless coastlines.  There are back road adventures, hometown diners, and surprises in small towns.  Arthur and I love to travel whenever we can.  However at this point in our lives we work full time and are trying to build up our savings so we are into close to home budget adventures.  It has been exciting to plan some of our journeys around the state this year.  It may not be Utah or some other paradise but Kansas has rock formations, lake and rivers, canyons, lowland forests, and seas of waving fields and prairies.  There's areas to watch wildlife, gaze at the stars, and appreciate the native plants.  In Kansas you just have to look a little deeper.

Obviously one of my favorite things about Kansas is the natural beauty but here is list of other reasons we can celebrate our state.

First of all, Kansas is smack dab in the middle of everything.  Kinsley is exactly half way between NYC and San Francisco.  The center of the Lower 48 is located near Lebanon, KS.  Also the geodetic center of North America is on Meade's Ranch in Osborne County.  This means that surveyors from all over the continent are actually measuring land based on a marker in some Kansas pasture.

Castle Rock, Gove KS

Kansans feed the world since the state is one of the top producers in beef and wheat.  Furthermore in the culinary department, Kansas is home to many innovators-- the creator of ICEE slushes, Pizza Hut, Papa John's, and White Castle Burgers.

World's Largest Ball of Twine, Cawker City, KS

In addition to agriculture products Kansas is one of the largest producers of helium in the nation.  In fact groundbreaking research and development regarding helium was completed at the turn of the century in labs at KU.  I'm pretty sure the researchers inhaled some of the helium to practice their munchkin voices.

Fall at Kanza Prairie

Which leads us to The Wizard of Oz.  Interestingly enough this is the top thing that is associated with our state-- a fictional fantasy world.  Every Kansan has heard the following comments more than we can count:  "Where's Toto?", "Did you pack your ruby slippers?", and "You're not in Kansas anymore".  In my quick research into the Wizard of Oz, L. Frank Baum didn't visit Kansas but based it on his time in South Dakota.

Wildflowers in the Flint Hills

Kansas is also well know for another fictional character-- Superman grew up in Kansas.  While there is still much debate about where the fictional Smallville is located in the state, it could be about any small town and there are plenty from which to pick.  Reportedly, Kansas is also high on the list of most likely to survive a zombie apocalypse.  This may be due to percentage of population that has served in the military, number of hunters and gun owners, and Superman might be the kid down the street.  I think it may be since we are deal with tornadoes on a regular basis and a zombie invasion can't be that different. 

So go ahead and sing a round of Home on the Range to celebrate Kansas' 155th birthday.  After all, there's no place like home.  Omnia Vincit Amor.

World Class sunsets in Kansas