By Today’s Flyover People column as seen in The Emporia Gazette:
WHAT WE LOVE ABOUT KANSAS
Fireflies, cows, and being able to see the stars.
Those are just a few of the things that residents appreciate about our state.
At the Kansas Sampler Festival in Leavenworth earlier this month, festival-goers were provided a large map of Kansas, pens and sticky notes. “What I Love about Kansas” was written above the map and people were encouraged to post their thoughts.
At the end of the weekend, the map was covered with yellow squares on which people had named their favorite things about the state.
Some people commented on the topography. “The hills” was posted on the Red Hills region in Comanche County. Another person countered with “the flat” in the Finney County area. Over Kearny County, someone posted “the wind.”
Others wrote things such as “wide open prairies,” “the emptiness,” and “less traffic.”
“That Kansas exists west of Salina,” was one response. Another: “In Kansas you are half-way to everywhere.”
Some notes focused on things native to the state, such as buffalo and sunflowers. Others included things that have been added over the years: Kansas wineries, Kansas Public Radio, Cawker City’s Ball of Twine, Kansas Talking Books, the William Allen White House, the Sternberg Museum in Hays.
What this board of yellow notes made me contemplate is our common denominator: the Kansas experience.
We Kansans have a familiarity with the same things: weather, landscape, spaciousness, small towns, an agricultural setting.
We’re all acquainted with the same map. If someone mentions the “Little Apple,” well, Kansans know where that is; outsiders may not. We know how to pronounce the Arkansas River correctly, and more likely than not we’ll call Hutchinson, “Hutch.”
And we all are, in varying degrees, aware of our own state’s history. While most of us wouldn’t necessarily know the historical figures in, say, Indiana or Idaho, we are familiar with quite a few names in Kansas’ past, such as John Brown, James Naismith, Wyatt Earp, Cyrus K. Holliday, William Inge, and Alf Landon.
Should you mention tornadoes, we may not be able to remember the years they occurred, but many of us can pull various town names out of our heads: Greensburg, of course, Topeka, Andover, Udall, Haysville.
As Kansans, we also band together in our appreciation of this place. We’re well aware that this is not one of the most sought-after states for a vacation or for relocation. Many people seem to prefer mountains or trees, an ocean, or large cities. So we carry with us the sense that Kansas is undervalued by others. But we, who live here, know its worth.
One person’s comment admitted this about Kansas: “It’s a well-kept secret. We get to keep it to ourselves.”
While the state has its shortcomings and some flaws, it is home.
Kansas is where we wake to singing birds each spring morning, it’s where our eyes stretch for miles to the horizon, it’s where we watch the clouds unfold stories in the sky. It’s where we live our lives as individuals, as members of a community, as Kansans.
And each of us can name specific things that make this state our own. Here are a few more of the sticky-note comments from the What I Love about Kansas board:
“I love that it’s not too big, not too small.”
“We have four seasons.”
“The women are strong.”
“The friendly people.”
“The weather is crazy!”
“Nobody says ‘you’re not in Kansas anymore.’”
And, perhaps my favorite of the comments regarding what is loved about Kansas:
“That I’m in it.”
Copyright 2011 ~ Cheryl Unruh
“You’re not in Kansas any more” is an awfull good one.
Ever since visiting here nearly 39 years ago, I felt drawn to Kansas. It’s way underrated. I’m not sure why. Maybe it’s the old cowboy movies that show Kansas as a flat, dry state. Yes, it has a lot of flat land, but it also has a lot of not flat land too. There’s a lot of culture here, the arts are amazing in this state. Sight seeing is wonderful and it is pretty easy to take a relaxed day trip here. It is different from the coasts, but it is a wonderful place to live and a wonderful place to visit.
This morning while in the fields, being an invasive species trapper I have the opportunity to make my own day, some farmer started mowing a meadow, you can envision yourself the smell of fresh cut grass, the moment in a few days to pick with both hands the dried hay, put it to your face and smell the enriched product?
YEA, Janet! You ARE a Kansan!!
And I, too, liked the “That I’m in it.”