Daily News for July 2006

July 31, 2006  Monday

The Lakeview 66 station (or whatever it's called now) celebrates the opening of the viaduct on E. Sixth--the newly opened bridge is in the background on the right. (See last Friday's entry on the bridge.)

***

It's hot and dusty at the Lyon County Fair. Yesterday I caught parts of the antique tractor pull, swine show, and the pet show.

At the pet show:

"Is that a hampster?" one girl asked, pointing to the critter in another girl's glass cage.

"No, it's a rat," the other girl replied.

Eww.

At 8:30 yesterday morning it was 82 degrees. At 12:30 p.m., 103 degrees with a hot wind. Still, it didn't feel as bad as it did earlier this month.

Visiting the Lyon County Fair was a group of 21 teachers from China who are studying at Emporia State University for four weeks.

"We are informed that these are the hottest days of the year," Fan Xin of Beijing told me. "It's a little hotter than what we're used to."

"It's hot, but we like it," she said.

A corner piece in downtown Dwight - the old bank.

July 30, 2006  Sunday

The sign promises a "ball game tonite." In the back is Dwight's old Masonic Lodge.

So, do they meet during Central Standard Time or only during Daylight Saving Time?

On the way to Salina yesterday, our first photo stop was in Dwight.

Dwight (Pop. 331) is in northern Morris County, near the Geary County line.

July 29, 2006  Saturday

The Lyon County Fair has begun.

The bunnies (oh so soft) are in their cages, but they jump if you pet them through the wire. They're a nervous bunch. The cattle are a little more steady. And the pigs, they're just lying on the straw, gasping for air during the 95-degree afternoons. Electric fans hang over the livestock, swirling hot air in the stalls.

Three Fools' Cafe Just east of Commercial on Sixth Good sandwiches, soups, homemade bread.

July 28, 2006 Friday

Here's a cool site: We Feel Fine - an exploration of human emotion.

Pyramid Pizza and Three Fools' Cafe downtown Emporia

Mornings come later these days. The sun is heading back south. The early light we used to get at 5:30 in the morning now comes in around 6 a.m.

***

Getting Done-er

(Or, as adults would say, Nearing Completion)

The viaduct project will be complete before long, ending a year-long detour of U.S. Highway 50. The E. Sixth Street viaduct was previously a narrow two-lane road which passed over a branch of the railroad tracks. On snowy days, it was never fun to meet a semi on the arched pothole-infested bridge. The new four lane is flatter and wider. And shinier! Two pedestrian walkways lead to actual sidewalks! Much safer for bicyclists and pedestrians.

July 27, 2006 Thursday

The former Rose's Grocery Store on Ninth Avenue between Rural and West Streets

Rose's (neighborhood) Grocery Store was still in business when I moved to town in 1981.

Famous Emporian, Kelley Hunt, (who now lives in Lawrence) wrote a song about the store. She sang it on "A Prairie Home Companion" (the radio broadcast, not the movie) last September when Garrison Keillor and the gang broadcast live from the Kansas State Fair.

Anyway, it's a great song with lots of good visual images. And it was extra cool because I knew the place she was singing about.

July 26, 2006 Wednesday

Where's Steve Beylon?

People all over northeast Kansas are asking, "What happened to Steve Beylon?"

That's the most-asked question on Flyover People since the whole Sugarland breakup fiasco. (Let's not go there.)

Anyway, for six years, Steve was the irrepressibly cheerful morning meteorologist on Topeka's KSNT-TV.

In March of 2004, I spent a few hours with Steve in the KSNT studio during one of their morning broadcasts. I learned a bit about weather forecasting and broadcasting. And I wrote a column about him.

I often bugged Steve with weather questions and he was always gracious and helpful. He was Flyover People's Official (but unpaid) Meteorologist. He's a good guy and explains the weather incredibly well.

Not everyone knows what happened to Steve.

But I know where Steve is. Ha-ha-ha-ha-ha (maniacal laugh.)

The other day I sent an e-mail to Steve, telling him that several people had written to the Topeka Capital-Journal Q&A page, inquiring as to his whereabouts.

And I told him that people had even come to the Flyover People website asking the question: "What happened to Steve Beylon?"

"They must have thought that you are the 'all-knowing' Oz of the Flint Hills," Steve replied.

Yes, as a matter of fact, I am.

If you're one of those thousands of people worried and wondering about Steve, well, he took a broadcasting job up north. He'll definitely bring some sunshine to that region.

Steve and his family are now settled here.

Kansas' loss, Wisconsin's gain.

 ***

St. Andrew's Episcopal Church

July 25, 2006 Tuesday

Look above the Town Royal sign "Candy -I-X-L- Fruit"

I wandered around downtown Emporia on Sunday morning. It's quiet then, few people out, few cars in the way should I take photos of storefronts.

Emporia has several interesting buildings downtown, but gosh, not very many. Some places are empty, some have that '60s corrugated steel siding on the second stories, some are just plain ugly and boring.

So, I took to the alleys and the side streets. OK, some of that was not so pretty either, but at least I found texture and intriguing shapes and lines in the alley walls and doorways and fire escapes.

I walked down the alley between the sheriff's office and the courthouse, snapping a few photos. Back there is the garage port where prisoners are delivered to the jail - a door you don't want to enter.

"Hey!" A deputy caught my attention, approached me, asked what I was up to.

Cops are curious, suspicious. It's their nature. It's what we pay them for.

And people who take photos of the jail's exterior might be contemplating breaking someone out of jail. The deputy would be remiss if he didn't check me out.

I gave him my card, told him that in a previous lifetime I had worked at the sheriff's office, assured him that I was not up to no good. He didn't throw me in the clinker, so...

I spoke with Sheriff Gary Eichorn yesterday.

"I heard one of my guys caught you," he laughed. I worked with Gary in that previous lifetime at the S.O. and he knows I'm not a hooligan.

Gary mentioned that the Railroad isn't too fond of photographers either, thanks to fears of terrorism. Guess I was lucky not to be questioned by the BNSF-RR police last week when I was hanging out near the tracks.

Those darned terrorists. A few bad people do spoil the fun for the rest of us.

Davis Paints Fifth and Commercial

July 24, 2006 Monday

Behind Commercial Street - back doors.

July 23, 2006 Sunday

Downtown Emporia   One of the few attractive buildings in downtown Emporia. The Kress Center was renovated in the 1980s and when it opened, there was a fancy restaurant on the third floor. Fancy, with tablecloths, cloth napkins and high prices. But the restaurant didn't last long. A wide variety of businesses and offices occupy the Kress Center now.

After walking up and down Commercial Street this morning, I found the side streets and the alleyways to be more photogenic.

July 22, 2006 Saturday

Mary's Place - Established 1977

Railroads, bars, beer, people

I haven’t been in Mary’s Place for years, but I thought about Mary's last weekend as I took a photo of the Sidetrack Saloon which is down by the railroad tracks.

One of my hangouts throughout the 1980s was Mary’s Place, at Sixth and Peyton. Mary Burgess was the owner and spent her afternoons and evenings perched on a large steel cooler behind the bar. No customer entered the front door without a personal welcome. Often she greeted me and my friends as "Young'uns." And no one left the bar without her “Thanks, guys.”

I was over 21, but in those days, 18-year-olds could drink beer. Well, they could drink tavern or "grocery store beer" which is referred to as 3.2 beer (3.2% alcohol by weight), as opposed to "liquor store beer" which is 6.0%. Nowadays, a person has to be 21 to drink beer in either strength.

During my time as a sporadic "regular" at Mary's Place, there were two pool tables along the east wall, a shuffleboard table and juke box along the west, video games in the back and the bar holding down the south end of the building next to the door.

In the early '80s, Mary had a PacMan table, not a standing video game, but one that was flat on a table. A quarter per game. The soundtrack of the Pac Man games is instantly retrievable in my mind and is likely a recognizable sound for anyone in my generation.

In the late afternoons, a man named Bud, who was probably in his 50s, sat at Mary’s bar. He worked road construction and came in for a spot of shade, a few beers and a couple hours of smoky conversation.

Often, Mick was there too. He was a railroader and joined Bud on the barstools. They traded stories with Mary.

I was always amused: Mick drank Budwiser. Bud drank Michelob.

About ten years ago I read in the paper that Bud was found dead in his home, no cause listed. Mary died of cancer a few years ago. Mick, who knows? He’s probably retired by now.

Railroads, bars, beer, people.

***

"Hamlet" as presented by the Community Theatre of Emporia at the Peter Pan Amphitheater last night. Hamlet (Audra Jenkins) tells Polonius (Trevor Whitsitt) what's what.

The heat spell broke yesterday which made a beautiful evening for the Mid-Summer Fair at Peter Pan Park.

"Snow White" was just delightful. The children did a wonderful job with their lines and performance - even though they had to shout over the sound of the nearby freight trains which moved through town.

The kids and the costumes were cute - the forest folk and the talking trees. (See additional photos at Postcard from Kansas.)

During the adult performance of "Hamlet," the actors had to outtalk the trains and the locusts. As the evening stretched on, the chorus of the cicadas became a ringing in my ears that was maddening.

July 21, 2006 Friday

Aubrey Jenkins plays the lead role in "Snow White." Cameron Crouch, in black, plays Dennis, the boy who rescues Snow White. Behind them are Forest Folk - played by Aurora Starr, Hayden Hawkins, and Anisa Tungajaroenkul. Tonight's Children's Summer Theatre's production of "Snow White" (as told by Scott Rochat) was part of the week-long Fifth Annual Mid-Summer Fair in Peter Pan Park. "Hamlet" was performed by the Community Theatre of Emporia. Mid-Summer Fair activities continue on Saturday.

Now it's 12:30 p.m. It's raining and 75 degrees.

This morning I told a friend that it was like going to bed in Kansas and waking up in another state - like Colorado.

The weathermen told us it would cool down. We just didn't think it was possible.

***

Whoa - it actually feels cool outside this morning! What gives?

There's a breeze, the dogwood limbs are bouncing around. This is odd. We may be a windy state, but in July and August, there's usually no moving air to be found.

Humbolt Park This must be Emporia's smallest park. It stretches along the back of the Rec Center's parking lot. The park ends about 20 feet from the edge of the pavement. Climb that little ridge in the trees and you're on Railroad right-of-way. There is a picnic table, some flowers and grass. It's a park!

And there is a blackberry vine in Humbolt park. The black one shown in this photo -- it was very good.

July 20, 2006 Thursday

Moon landing. This date. 1969.

~~~

Railroad tracks west of Emporia, looking west.

In keeping with my railroad theme, this morning I left the city limits on East Sixth Street, turned on Merrick Tower Road, (that's what we at the Sheriff's Office always called it anyway) and proceeded south to the railroad tracks, but...what... no Merrick Tower!

What did the Railroad do with Merrick Tower?

~~~

The Sidetrack Saloon. On Neosho Street, down by the railroad tracks. This tavern was open on Sunday morning at 11 a.m. (in case you need to know that.) When I moved to town this was Blaylock's Cafe - and the Santa Fe still ran crews out of Emporia then. According to those-in-the-know, Blaylocks was the first white-owned cafe in Emporia to allow blacks to dine inside. (But I don't know what year that was.)   UPDATE: (From those-in-the-know) Roger Heineken says: Don Blaylock told me he thought it was between 1948 - 50 when his father broke the color barrier. His father was a WWII veteran and a Quaker. Don said that his father couldn't justify continuing the segregation practice by barring Black veterans and ignoring the tenets of his faith. Don's father bought the cafe in 1948. In 1969 and '70, my first years here, the place was hopping. You (could have) expected Richie Cunningham and the Fonz to walk in any time. It had that 1960 diner look.

Congress Street underpass. Emporia has a lot of trains charging through. Many of those freight trains are long and slow. We have three underpasses in the downtown area - at Congress, State, and Mechanic Streets. And there's a huge overpass on the west end of town, on Prairie Street.

One block to the west is the State Street underpass.

July 19, 2006 Wednesday

This afternoon, I met my new friend Tracy and her three kiddos at Braum's for ice cream. She's a writer and has just moved to Emporia. It'll be fun to get to know the whole family better.

Then it was off to the Farmers Market.

Man wearing Tommy Hilfiger overalls checks out the peaches.

Bob Karr and his peaches. Oh, they are good.

The Farmers Market is at Seventh and Merchant. Wednesdays at 4 p.m. Saturdays at 8 a.m.

Across the street from the Farmers Market, the bank sign read 109 at 4:11 p.m. Meanwhile, the thermometer in my car indicated 116 degrees. My brother sent me a link to a humorous heat-related column on philly.com.

~

It's 2:30 p.m. 101 degrees. Heat index 106.

Not yet up to that predicted temperature of 105.

Raise your hand if you've gone the entire day without using the word "hot" in a conversation.

~

Quick, which is higher, the temperature or the price of gas?

Temp. 101

Gas    $2.95 (or 2.99, depending on where you stop)

~

So, at the bank drive-thru, do you keep the car running and burn $3.00 per gallon gasoline?

OR, do you shut off the car and get all slimy?

~

Unless you're a rainforest, humidity is not your friend. Humidity makes you feel hotter when it's hot. It makes you feel colder when it's cold.

~

Morgan is 8. She lives next door. Our old birthday banner was worn out and got thrown away, so at 6:30 this morning I drove to Wal-Mart for a new one. And they had balloons, too.

***

On Sunday, I spent some time along the railroad tracks in Emporia.

In the background is a Santa Fe locomotive (an old one that hasn't been repainted with the green and orange Burlington Northern Santa Fe colors). Foreground - Union Pacific.

This train is moving in reverse. The guy on the back is talking into a walkie-talkie (Have you ever realized how silly "walkie-talkie" sounds?) Soon, he'll jump off, throw a switch and the train will continue to back up so it can rearrange the cars.

Our beautiful brick depot burned down about 10 years ago. The parking lot remains. This was the trainmaster's parking spot.

July 18, 2006 Tuesday

One of my favorite things about running this Web site is receiving correspondence from readers/viewers.

I've exchanged a few e-mails with a gentleman from England. (I assume he's a gentleman -- the Internet has its limitations, you know.)

Anyway, a couple weeks ago, Simon wandered onto the Flyover People site, curious about Kansas.

"Came across your site because I've never been to Kansas, love the idea of being slap bang in the middle of USA and decided to find out about it," Simon wrote.

"Kansas is pleasingly exotic; England's just England. But don't tell your traveling friends -- we want their tourist dollars."

I've learned why Brits eat baked beans for breakfast, how most of them feel about President Bush (it's not good), and that they've heard about Fred Phelps (not a native Kansan, but our burden nonetheless.)

"PHELPS!!!! Yes! Google Kansas and he's one of the first people who comes up - and you wonder why we (and the Califs) think you're odd?! He's just great - enormously weird - and we Brits love you guys to be that way."

I've enjoyed Simon's perspective and his sense of humor.

"I hear the butler's gong - must don my black tie for dinner! Also my house is older than your state..."

~~~

So, to all of you Flyover People readers...

I'd love to hear your thoughts on baked beans, or heck, even Kansas! E-mail Cheryl.

(If I use reader comments, I will keep the quotes anonymous or else I will ask your permission to post them.)

***

And still more photos from Lucas, Kansas...

Artist Mri Pilar's Isis Chapel

Inside the Deeble House in Lucas.

Mri Pilar's Website.

For more, see our Lucas Small Towns page.

July 17, 2006 Monday

A scene from "Twelfth Night"

July 2004

The Mid-Summer Fair begins tonight in Emporia's Peter Pan Park.

Always a great community event, this year the Children's Summer Theatre will perform Snow White. The Community Theatre will act out scenes from Hamlet.

Performances are staged at the amphitheater and begin at 6 p.m. Monday through Saturday this week.

Take chairs or blankets to sit on (save yourself from the chiggers.) And take water to drink.

Other events begin at 4:30 p.m. - bubble blowing, sidewalk chalking, face painting, ribbon dancing, pool wading, etc.

On Saturday, events begin at 9:30 a.m.

Peter Pan Park Amphitheater

Warning: It's always hot for this event. The performers face the bright late-afternoon sun which also scorches the backs of the audience -- until about 7 p.m. or so when the trees at the west end of the grassy field begin to absorb some of the sunlight.

Today, the temperature is expected to exceed 100 degrees with a projected heat index around 110 or higher.

Mid-Summer Fair events are free!

For more information: Community Theatre of Emporia

More from Lucas

Grassroots Arts Center Lucas, Kansas

The Grassroots Arts Center is Home Base in Lucas. The works of a dozen or so Kansas artists are on display here.

There's an admission fee. Six dollars, as I recall. You will be given a guided tour with a background of these artists and their work.

Ed Root - cement and glass sculptures

The courtyard behind the Grassroots Arts Center shows off the limestone (and limestone art) that comes from this area. Settlers arrived in Kansas before the trees did. This meant the folks had no lumber for homes. So the plucky settlers learned how to quarry the limestone that was beneath the soil. Homes, businesses and fenceposts were made from stone.

July 16, 2006 Sunday

My Brother's Blog

Luckily, when brothers become adults, they outgrow their obnoxious behaviors and most brothers, I suppose, turn into decent human beings. Mine did, anyway.

My big brother also happens to be a decent writer, one of my favorites.

It's a treat for me every morning to check his Web site and see what he's come up with for the day. His is not the chatter that some blogs offer. Leon gives us thoughtful and insightful writing about growing up in a small Kansas town.

I really liked today's entry about Grandpa and "The Beautiful Bamboo Rod."

Further down on that page (the July 12 entry) is "Building a Door and Going Through It," which tells about cultural opportunities we were given as children growing up in the middle of nowhere.

Leon also posts a new photo every day on the home page of PawneeRock.org.

***

What's new in Emporia? Color-coded fire hydrants. All the fireplugs (905 of them in town) used to be red and silver, but firefighters are painting them to indicate the strength of the water pressure. According to an article in the Emporia Gazette, "Blue (looks like purple to me) has the strongest pressure at 1,500 gallons per minute, followed by green, orange, and finally red hydrants, which put out less than 500 gallons of water a minute. A black hydrant is non-functional." Two fire hydrants are within a block of Flyover People's World Headquarters. Both are blue. Well, purple.

I think the hydrants themselves look like toy firefighters -- there's that domed hat and cute little arms.

Journey of Hope

Yesterday afternoon I had the chance to visit with a few guys in the Pi Kappa Phi Fraternity who are bicycling across the country in the Journey of Hope. They are raising funds and awareness for people with disabilities.

The Journey of Hope consists of three teams of cyclists, riding from the west coast to the east. This particular team left Florence, Oregon, on June 2. All three teams plan to converge in Washington D.C. on August 12.

The 15 cyclists in this team have passed through Oregon, Idaho, Montanta, Wyoming, Colorado and now Kansas. By the time they reach D.C., these guys will have riden about 4,300 miles.

Their day's ride from Wichita to Emporia was 100 miles.

One cyclist I spoke with is Nick Hart from Peculiar, Missouri. He recently graduated from Truman State College with a degree in political science.

I asked him which was worse -- riding in the mountains or in the heat and humidity of Kansas.

"Well, it depends on who you talk to. I'm happy to be down in an altitude where you can breathe," Hart said.

He's definitely a Midwesterner.

Although a few nights have been spent in motels, usually team members roll out their sleeping bags on gym floors and then wake at dawn so they can hit the highways again.

Each team member must raise $5,000 from family and friends and business sponsors in order to participate.

In the evenings, they meet with the disabled people that they are riding in support of. They put on presentations for the communities, such as their Kids on the Block puppet shows which highlight the problems, issues and successes of people with disabilities.

For more information on the journey and mission of these young men, see www.pushamerica.org.

July 15, 2006 Saturday

Southwind Nature Trail - Tallgrass Prairie National Preserve

Yahoo! touts beauty of Kansas prairie preserve

Flint Hills among Web site’s top five travel destinations.

Read the story in the Lawrence Journal-World.

***

"God, you're going to hate me," the radio announcer said. I had a Topeka station playing in the car while running errands this morning.

Then he gave the forecast: 100 degrees, with heat index around 103.

Yup. July in Kansas. Even for those of us who dislike winter, this is hot.

Part of an old truck, sitting in a vacant lot in Lucas. It says Lambert (something) - Hosiery - Headwear. Longer wear - better fit.

July 14, 2006  Friday

Sign reads: Mr. Dinsmoor died in this room on July 21, 1932. In case you needed to know that.

The kitchen in Dinsmoor's home.

Flag at the Garden of Eden.

Now available for entertainment and amusement:

Lucas

Dave's photos of the town and its art

See what we saw.

July 13, 2006  Thursday

More from Lucas....

Samuel P. Dinsmoor's Garden of Eden

The mausoleum holds the bodies of Dinsmoor and his first wife. Mrs. D. is not visible - she's encased in concrete. However, Dinsmoor's body lies in a glass-topped coffin. No photos were allowed inside the mausoleum, so I guess you'll have to go see the dead guy for yourself.

July 12, 2006  Wednesday

 The Garden of Eden - Lucas

Samuel P. Dinsmoor's home - built with limestone logs.

Adam and Eve in Dinsmoor's Garden of Eden.

Fossils are a dime a dozen here in Russell County. This toy wheelbarrow in front of Brant's Meat Market in Lucas saves you the trouble of having to search for them yourself.

July 11, 2006  Tuesday

Lucas, Kansas

Dave captured Eric Abraham's reflection in one of Abraham's pieces in the Flying Pig Studio.

In 2004, Eric Abraham opened his Flying Pig Studio in downtown Lucas - in the former Chevorlet dealership building. 

It's his studio, gallery and residence.

Abraham once worked in Denver, but when his studio rent tripled, he took off for Kansas, initially landing in Wabaunsee. A few years ago, he decided that Lucas was a good location for artists.

It's such a good place that one of his artist friends from Denver will be setting up her own shop/hotel in Lucas.

"Mother Hubbard's Cupboard Really Was Bare!" A piece by Eric Abraham

The artist's Flying Pig car.

July 10, 2006  Monday

I attended a political rally this evening. That's a first.

Two weeks ago I met Emporia's representative, Don Hill. I liked him right away. He seemed accessible and friendly and he already knew who I was, because I'm like...famous and all (I'm rolling my eyes here). So when my friend Ele mentioned tonight's rally, I said, "Sure, sounds like fun, I'll go... Is there food involved?"

It was Don Hill's rally this evening. And tonight I met Jana Shaver who is running for the Kansas State Board of Education. Since the state school board is something of a crazy mess, I was glad to actually meet one of the candidates.

Both Don Hill and Jana Shaver are in contested primaries.

This primary election is important. The date is Tuesday, August 1.

Check out all the candidates. Then vote.

***

Doug Brant of Brant's Meat Market in Lucas wraps a package on Saturday. He served a steady stream of Kansas Explorers who bought sausage, balogna, cheese and other products. Kansas Explorers have a deep fondness for the state. They explore and enjoy the people and places, the landscape and wildlife, the history and all that is Kansas. But also, Explorers understand that in order to survive, rural Kansas needs their tourism attention and financial support. Explorers find charm in tiny rural communities and they choose to support locally-owned small businesses around the state. With declining populations in these towns, small grocery stores, which are straining to survive, feel the boost when outsiders drop in and make purchases. Marci Penner encouraged Explorers, on their way to Lucas, to spend money in tiny towns -- to buy groceries and even stamps along the way. Post Offices only stay open if they maintain a certain level of revenue. I think it was a good day for Doug Brant. The entire town of Lucas felt the love as Explorers descended on the community.

Doug Brant slices off a hunk of cheese for Emporians Tom and Florence Haskett on Saturday. The Hasketts are friends of ours and are long-time Explorers. They arrived in the area a few days before the picnic to do some genealogy research in neighboring Lincoln County.

July 9, 2006  Sunday

"Those crazies that just love Kansas..." *

Marci Penner of Inman, tireless co-founder and director of the Kansas Sampler Foundation and leader of the Kansas Explorers Club, is rural Kansas' best friend. Following extensive research, Penner recently published The Guidebook for Kansas Explorers, an invaluable book to keep in your car.

"The Happening"

an annual gathering of Kansas Explorers

July 8, 2006

Lucas, Kansas.

At "The Happening," Marci Penner recognizes the "Father of Questing" Larry, the bowler, Woydziak. June 9, 2001: Larry, the bowler, threw his bowling ball down an alley in Sterling, Kansas. That day, Larry Woydziak, of Lawrence, secured eternal notoriety in Kansas Explorer History: He completed his quest to bowl in every Kansas county that had a bowling alley (79 out of 105 counties.)   Every Kansas Explorer knows the story of Larry the bowler. And, they've heard of Bill Bunyan, the Dodge City man who, on his 65th birthday in 2003, ate a hamburger in Paddy's Restaurant in Sterling. (Sterling: magical city of questing.) This was Bunyan's 105th burger. Over a period of three years, Bunyan, usually accompanied by his wife, consumed a burger in every Kansas county. Bill is now after steaks. So far, he's eaten 29 steaks in 29 counties.

*According to Marci, the above quote about the Explorers Club was in the Osage County newspaper.

L u c a s, K a n s a s

Florence Deeble's "Mount Rushmore" in Lucas, Kansas.

Lucas sits on a swirling vortex of charming weirdness. It is Kansas' center of visionary art.

Artists' materials: cement, forks, broken glass, stuff found at the bottom of a lake.

Visionary artists' primary characteristic: being independent of the opinion of others.

For more information, check out: Grassroots Arts Center, Lucas.

***

Lucas, Wilson, Ellsworth

At 7 a.m. yesterday, Dave and I headed north and west. We had a noon rendezvous at the city park in Lucas for a potluck with the die-hard Kansas Explorer gang.

It was about a four-hour drive to Lucas (and four hours back), and in that 15-hour day, we filled our digital camera cards with hundreds of photos.

Dave and I seldom travel with set plans, we drive by ear. But as long as we were in that Russell/Ellsworth County vicinity, I wanted to stop and see some friends. For a couple years, I've been reading Peg Britton's kansasprairie.net blog about Ellsworth and her family. While we were in Wilson, I stopped in for a short visit with Peg's son Dane.

Then, as we approached Ellsworth, I phoned Peg to see if she was home. Luckily, she was and she gave us a brief tour of Ellsworth. Peg took us inside the Antique Mall downtown which is also a diner/ice cream shop as well as a center for Ellsworthian activity and conversation. There, Dave and I climbed the stairs to see an old Masonic Lodge ceremonial room.

Peg treated us to a nice dinner at KC's restaurant (I recommend the bison burger), located across the road from the Ellsworth Correctional Facility, which, after one look, I decided should be the barbed-wire capital of Kansas (instead of LaCrosse.)

The friendship with Peg formed over the Internet. After following each other's web sites for a year or so, I met her in person last October when Dane was in the hospital in Wichita.

Because I'd read about her daily life on her blog, it was good to see Peg's natural habitat: her home in the woods, downtown Ellsworth, the Antique Mall, her computer desk, the nursing home in Wilson. It was good to meet her daughter, her husband and the wild and crazy dog, Ringo (and his friends.) And by the way, while Dave and I were in Wilson, I purchased some of the famous kolaches that Peg has written about.

Peg seems like family. Good family.

Dave and I were tired from a long day in the car and the sun, so we didn't stay long, but some day we will return to hang out with Peg and see more of Ellsworth.

July 8, 2006  Saturday

In front of the old Carnegie library in Council Grove is a marker commemorating the 100th anniversary of the Santa Fe Trail. Follow the Santa Fe Trail through Kansas.

July 7, 2006  Friday

My hair now reaches the tops of my shoulders, which is longer than it's been in more than a decade.

Several years ago, I had a something of a buzz cut. It was short and spiky. I kind of liked the spikes, but I will never have hair that short again. Or even sort of short again. Never, never, never.

However, when you live in a windy state, Kansas for example, there are certain consequences to having longer hair.

1) I don't wear lipstick all that often, but when I step outside into the wind, hair sticks to my Sagewood-colored lips. Which gives my hair strawberry blonde streaks.

2) While shooting photos, loose strands fly all over the place and sometimes wind up in front of the camera lens. Click.

Solution for Kansas wind: a ponytail.

TigerTufa   The cat shares a place on the porch with our newest hypertufa pot, made by April Buckman, who is the Queen of Hypertufa. (Queen LaTufa)

***

Roofscape - Council Grove

Originally, the Morris County State Bank. 1887 It later became the Council Grove National Bank.

Entrance to the former bank.

July 6, 2006 Thursday

Barefoot, I stepped out on the porch early this morning. It's in the lower 60s -- cool for July.

There's something kind of Stephen King-ish about this poster in a Council Grove store window: grain truck on a killing rampage. Be careful out there.

July 5, 2006 Wednesday

In my growing up days, it was Ford vs. Chevy. My dad drove an old Chevy pickup, a '48 I think, so my loyalty was with the Chevys. I remember being shocked many years later when Dad bought a Ford pickup. The shape of these old trucks brings back fond memories.

This truck sits in a parking lot in Council Grove.

July 4, 2006  Tuesday  - Independence Day

For the first Tuesday in three-and-a-half years, there is no Flyover People column in the paper. Because there is no paper today. The Emporia Gazette does not publish on Independence Day.

So, I kinda had a week off from writing for the first time in 177 weeks. That week off, however, included being ill/half-dead for three days, teaching a class for two days, having company for two days, and pretty much getting no sleep for the entire week. Whoo-wee.

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Just watched the Discovery shuttle launch. Cool.

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For lunch, I fixed myself a hot dog and sat in front of the television to eat it. When I turned on the TV, I happened to catch ESPN and the middle of Nathan's hot dog eating contest at Coney Island.

Now that's some appetizing television.

Joey Chestnut gave it his best shot, but in 12 minutes he could only consume 52 dogs. Takeru "The Tsunami" Kobayashi, five-time-winner from Japan, ate 53 3/4.

I have a stomachache.

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Council Grove, Kansas

Maple Camp Behind the Terwilliger House once sat Maple Camp, a set of tourist cabins. The cabins were wood-frame stucco duplexes. This cabin was built in 1930 and is the only one remaining. It has been preserved and now houses a massage therapist business. The building to the right is a 1943 WWII cabin brought in from Herington Army Air Base near Delavan.

The Field School, District 54, was originally located eight miles south of Council Grove and was moved to this location in 1999.

"Last chance for beans, bacon and whiskey" was the slogan used by this 1857 Last Chance store built along the Santa Fe Trail.

These green highway signs were the ones I grew up with in the '60s in Pawnee Rock, which is also along the Santa Fe Trail.

The building was used as a store, a post office, a government trading house and a polling place. A marker indicates the exterior of the building has never been changed.

July 3, 2006  Monday

More from Council Grove ...

This cornerstone is on the old Carnegie Library. (I think it's the city building now -- the public library now occupies a one-time grocery store building down the street.) Anyway, the cornerstone also acknowledges the "Old Santa Fe Trail Treaty between Indians and Whites 1825 Council Grove, Kansas."  Apparently, in 1916, the treaty was still considered to be an important factor in the community, something that needed to be remembered in stone.

Residents are raising funds to restore The Stella. The marquee announces "new roof."

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Dave returned to the Council Grove area yesterday and hiked the Allegawho Memorial Heritage Park. And, believe it or not, he took photos:

A Walk Along the Kanza Heritage Trail

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Read a great story on Tom Parker's blog about a photographer crossing Kansas on foot.

Scott Edwards, 50, decided to walk from his home in Wisconsin to the Grand Canyon. It sounds like he appreciates Kansas hospitality.

July 2, 2006  Sunday

Did you miss this morning's sunrise?

It's available as wallpaper!

Also just added to the same page - grayhead prairie coneflower wallpaper.

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More from Council Grove, Kansas: Home of the Braves. That's part of my affinity for Council Grove. The school mascot for my hometown, Pawnee Rock, was the Braves. And the school colors are the same: blue and gold.

It's the county seat of Morris County and the main business district of Council Grove (Pop. 2,275) is only several blocks long, but the store fronts are mostly occupied. It's a clean town, a friendly place.

While we were eating breakfast in the Hays House - with its rugged western interior, the rustic beams and the hanging lamps, Dave mentioned that the town and the restaurant kind of had that Colorado feel. Council Grove is a tourist town - by Kansas standards, but it's still very low-key. Kansas, as a whole, doesn't yet see itself as a tourist destination. And that's good, I think. That keeps us authentic.

I noticed recently that the Kansas Travel and Tourism web site has a fresh look. They have updated their site and it's downright snazzy. Check it out.

Under DESTINATIONS, try the Trip Planner. Type in a Kansas town and a radius, click on the things you're interested in (lodging, food, things to do), a time-frame at the bottom, and you'll get a list of current activities in that area.

Or you can just pick a topic, say History, and you'll get a list of historical sites, restaurants in historical buildings, etc.

Pick out something you want to see, a town you want to visit.

And GO.

Hey, Council Grove is only about 35 miles away and I've passed through that town a hundred times on the way to Salina, but I haven't stopped every time and I haven't seen everything.

I tell people all the time that writing is simply about paying attention. Well, heck, life is about paying attention. There's cool stuff all around us.

The white sign on the right of the building reads "Holmes Insurance." Well, for decades, that white sign read "Coffin Insurance," which I always found mildly amusing.

Old neon. Savings and Loan.

We may be rural, but we're not out of touch.

July 1, 2006  Saturday

I was just in Council Grove on Monday, but Dave suggested that we head that way early this morning (6:30) to hike the Al-Le-Ga-Wa-Ho Heritage Park Trail southeast of town.

Well, long story short, we didn't hike the trail.

But we will.

The directions we had were insanely confusing.

The Kaw Mission in Council Grove opened at 10 a.m. and a friendly and helpful ESU history student gave us some maps and information. Later we located the Trailhead and we will return. Because by then it was way too hot to start on the 2-mile hike.

Anyway, while waiting for the Kaw Mission to open, we drove out to the Council Grove reservoir, then ate breakfast at the Hays House [breakfast buffet $6.95 - waffles, chunky fried potatoes, biscuits, gravy (over the potatoes and biscuits), bacon, sausage, a nice scrambled egg dish, fresh blueberry jelly, and fresh grapefruit/pineapple chunks.]

Council Grove really has a lot to offer in the way of charm and historical sites. I'll be posting a few of my photos here in the next few days and we may eventually do a Council Grove page.

Council Grove, Kansas

1893 Farmers and Drovers Bank