A cool trip to KS. Yes, really!

I can't believe I'm going to put this out there, but I am:

I road tripped into Western Kansas, and it was actually cool.

Skeptical? Yeah, I don't blame you. The last time I went on a drive across the sunflower state, I was entertained by the panoramic views and Flint Hills ... for roughly 24 minutes. Then, as the state drug by, I got a case of Monotonous Infinitessimus and wasn't my normal self for days.

So, what made this particular trip so cool? Well, for one, we drove most of it in the dark.

Ha! No lie, we got into the state at about dusk, and about the time we went through Lawrence, it was totally dark. And thus, got to see a phenomenon I've never witnessed before: the burning of the Flint Hills. I could not believe it - they just light these fires and walk away! They start burning, and it consumes THOUSANDS of acres of grassland, burning right up to the edges of the highways. Absolutely incredible.

My dad, (who has spent years earning his nickname "Chief Cut 'Em Down, Burn 'Em Up" cause he do like him a good brush fire) of course, was completely enthralled. That particular annual method of cleaning the brush out of the acreages and rejuvenating the grass creates several differences in the way they farm compared to our operation, just one state away. For instance, their fence posts have to be able to withstand the burning. I wouldn't even know how to start building a fence made entirely out of metal posts.

So that was pretty awesome to see, even the next day, of course they were still burning so the sky was just filled with smoke. And we'd be driving along and all of a sudden see hundreds and hundreds of smouldering, black acres. It's so neat, though, cause I bet now those same hills are green as Ireland. Cool.

We drove right past a windmill farm, too. I hadn't seen one actually spinning in the wind - WOW. It's a little weird, actually, driving through a state filled with farmland and old tradition, and then seeing these huge beacons of technology standing on the hills. On accident, I snapped a cool picture of the dichotomy. Check it.



So, I can't say that I'd be in the mood to traipse across Kansas again any time soon, but at least now I have a couple of nice things to say about the erstwhile Ocean of Maddening Sameness. :)

But it wasn't funny back then!

Everyone is familiar with the email forward. Randomly, they can be awesome, hilarious, weird, revolting ... one I got today, though, sent me packing down Repressed Memory Lane. The email was a Larry the Cable Guy commentary on folks from Missouri (which I'm sure has been packaged and re-packaged to fit whatever state it's being routed through). Here's part of it:
*****
If you have gone from "heat" to "A/C" in the same day and back again you
live in Missouri.

If you can drive 75 mph through 2 feet of snow during a raging blizzard
without flinching, you live in Missouri.

If you install security lights on your house and garage, but leave both
unlocked, you live in Missouri.

If you design your kid's Halloween costume to fit over a snowsuit, you
live in Missouri.
*****

ALL of which are uncannily true. But wow, that last one, talk about hitting a nerve. It's not a joke, people! Picture this: a 7-year-old blonde girl all set to go out as beautiful, pristine Snow White. Store-bought costume, full-face plastic molded mask with raven black hair and red bow included. How lovely!

Oh wait, it's FRIGID outside. Wind blowing, snow on the ground, stupid-cold.

Now picture a lumpy, and therefore frumpy, Snow White.

Yep, when I had to put my costume on OVER my snowsuit, I instantly became the ugly stepsister- at least I thought so. Oh, miserable! If I could've had my way, I know 100% that I would've risked freezing to death to NOT wear that lumpy snowsuit out trick-or-treating.

But I wanted one of Tara's grandma's famous caramel popcorn balls real bad. So although I was decidedly unhappy about it, lumpy Snow White went to town with her plastic pumpkin treat basket. :) The popcorn ball was well worth it.

Thanks for that trip, Mr. the Cable Guy.

Thirteen point One

For the last couple of months, I've been training for the longest distance race I've ever done - a half marathon. I'm not even sure what it was that made me think that was something I needed to do (It probably had something to do with my friend Jiff), but I decided to try it. So, at 6 am most mornings, I was out skipping around town. My 'long' runs kept getting longer, and longer. I can't lie, some of them were the most miserable experiences I've had in a long while. But most of them were actually way less torture that I thought they'd be. And then, this past Sunday was D-Day.

And I was utterly terrified. I kept trying to just not think about anything, cause it was better than the "What the @#!*#?" and "I ain't NEVER gonna finish this!" and "WHY did I think this was a good idea?" thoughts in my head. But, I tied on my trusty do-rag, and got in line.

In what seemed like no time, I was running past the 7 mile marker. Piece o' cake, I tell ya! Of course, then we got into these long, slow, grades and the next few miles were kinda rough (who am I kidding? The next few miles sucked real bad.). The marching band at mile 10 sure helped, though! Sweet! One semi-quick trip to the port-a-potties (dammit. blew a good 5 minutes there.), up and over a couple more hills, and EUREKA! THE FINISH LINE! I hope they got a good picture of me throwing up the rock fist. 02:09:21

Went to brunch at First Watch, where I rewarded myself heartily. Mmmmm ... then promptly spent the next two days freezing and medicating the pain away. And now that I'm back to almost-normal, I find myself looking online for the NEXT 1/2 marathon. Gotta beat that time, you know?

Ewe Gotta Love Spring

I hear the birds singing,

I see the baby calves playing in the field,

I feel the sun on my face,

I see the grass getting green again,

I feel the cool breeze blowing through my wool ...

WAIT A MINUTE!



Nekkid sheep. Another sure sign it's spring! The girls get their hair cut at least once a year. It makes lambing a lot cleaner, which they're scheduled to do in the next couple of weeks. Plus, just because it's attached to them, doesn't mean they LIKE having to wear the same wool sweater all year long!