With six days until the election, gubernatorial candidate Paul Davis, a Democrat, is touring the state one last time before voters go to the polls on Tuesday. He stopped at the Democratic headquarters in Emporia this morning. He said that 16 months ago when he started his campaign, people said, “Paul you’d be a good …
Harry Lewis at Halloween
From Waiting on the Sky: More Flyover People Essays: “Under the shadows of cedars toward the cemetery’s north end lies Harry Lewis, a bachelor, retired from the U.S. Railway Postal Service. He kept to himself mostly, didn’t speak to kids, and he wore a city man’s hat. “One Halloween, my friends and I dared ourselves …
May 29
May 29 For Marilyn Maryland, oh my Maryland. It’s her birthday today! My friend till the end: Marilyn. I could tell all of the stories – of riding around town in cars, of breakfast at The Rock, of telling tales at the lumberyard bench of machetes in the milo, of swimming in the horse …
Sunday morning in Emporia
I’ve been posting some of the poems I’ve written lately. Here’s one from Sunday morning. I wrote this while sitting on a bench on Commercial Street in downtown Emporia. May 18 Sitting on a bench along the town’s main street, two Harleys pulse the air in front of me while church bells at the …
Bonita Garden
My friend Marcia Lawrence leans dangerously against the unexpectedly non-anchored peace pole in the brand new Bonita Garden of Grace. This community garden, for which Marcia wrote the grant, is a project of the Grace Methodist Church, which is right across South Ave. from the garden. Tonight they are having a picnic at the site.
A Flyover Farewell
Today’s Flyover People column as seen in The Emporia Gazette: A FLYOVER FAREWELL For more than 11 years now, my dear readers, I have dragged you along with me on the gravel roads of Kansas. Willingly, I trust. Eleven years? Even I find that hard to believe somehow. My first column was published in The …
CH-CH-CHANGES
Today’s Flyover People column as seen in The Emporia Gazette: CH-CH-CHANGES By the time you read this, I will have mowed the lawn for the first time this year. Redbuds, crabapples and Bradford pears turn Emporia into an April wonderland, trees flowering all at once. Spring, the most elusive season of all, has finally …
Our Midwestern Home
Today’s Flyover People column as seen in The Emporia Gazette: Sunset, rural Dodge City OUR MIDWESTERN HOME When a national weather map shows up on TV, where do we look? At the center of the screen, of course. Map-wise, Kansas is the star of the show, sitting in the heart of the country. There are …
The Viewfinder
Today’s Flyover People column as seen in The Emporia Gazette: One of many blurry photos I took in junior high. After track practice in 8th grade, Donna Smith Boese and other friends came over to my house. THE VIEWFINDER Do you know what I miss? I miss having a viewfinder. I have to …
Color Confusion
Today’s Flyover People column as seen in The Emporia Gazette: COLOR CONFUSION On a recent weekend, snow fell overnight. Usually my first look at the world on any given morning is through our bathroom window. Through that window all I can see is the neighbor’s roof, the sky, and the tops of trees – and …
Anticipation
Today’s Flyover People column as seen in The Emporia Gazette: ANTICIPATION For several days this winter when I walked through the door of the post office, I thought, “Maybe it’s here today.” I had ordered a bracelet online from a Hesston business called The Rusted Chain, and was awaiting the bracelet’s arrival. The anticipation …