By Today’s Flyover People column as seen in The Emporia Gazette: Deer head, Java Cat Coffee House, Emporia A RAINY MONDAY At the Java Cat, a woman in her 20s sits down with a book and I’m curious as to what she’s reading. Fiction? Non-fiction? The sky is dim this particular day, the overhead bulb has …
Adventures in Reading
Today’s Flyover People column as seen in The Emporia Gazette: ADVENTURES IN READING One day this month, the Miracle Café in Reading posted a Facebook message announcing that strawberry-rhubarb pie was available that day. I reposted their note, and within a few minutes friends Greg Jordan and Lisa Soller suggested I meet them in Reading …
A Smile and A Wave
July 23rd Flyover People column as seen in The Emporia Gazette: (This column was originally published in 2009.) A SMILE AND A WAVE To my left, at the 4-way stop, sat a pickup truck with three 20-something occupants: boy, girl, boy. As I turned left in front of this vehicle, the driver waved a big …
Saluting a Life
Today’s Flyover People column as seen in The Emporia Gazette: SALUTING A LIFE “Whoop – whoop – whoop!” A Salina police officer used his siren to clear an intersection as the funeral procession began. “They’re doing those ‘whoops’ for your mom,” I told Dave with a smile as we drove away from the church. Headed …
‘Dust in the Wind’
Today’s Flyover People column as seen in The Emporia Gazette: ‘DUST IN THE WIND’ Over the past few weeks, I’ve taken a few drives into the country looking for combines. And I’ve found them chugging through fields of gold, their shapes nearly obscured by self-created clouds of dust. The combines eat their fill, separate wheat …
Art in the City
Today’s Flyover People column as seen in The Emporia Gazette: ART IN THE CITY “Mom! Mom!” I heard a boy’s voice yelling from the sidewalk in front of my house. I looked out the door and saw a boy who was 8 or 9 scramble to get on his bicycle. He continued to shout …
Southern States
Today’s Flyover People column as seen in The Emporia Gazette: Rowan Oak, Oxford, Mississippi SOUTHERN STATES Interstate highways allow you make good time while traveling, but having a good time on those highways is not guaranteed. Those slabs of concrete are like run-on sentences: no periods in sight. If you want to cover miles …
Death of a Church
Today’s Flyover People column as seen in The Emporia Gazette: DEATH OF A CHURCH I knew I would feel sad, but I didn’t expect to cry. Nevertheless, tears filled my eyes as soon as the congregation began singing the doxology. Every Sunday morning during my childhood, as the ushers carried filled collection plates to …
The Accidental Tourist
Today’s Flyover People column as seen in The Emporia Gazette: Bonaventure Cemetery, Savannah, Georgia. THE ACCIDENTAL TOURIST Waves splashed onto my shins. Two little girls and their father were standing in deeper water and those girls allowed each giggling wave to knock them down. If I’d have known I was going to be at the …
Remembering the Dead
Today’s Flyover People column as seen in The Emporia Gazette: REMEMBERING THE DEAD The cemetery was my playground. While Dad mowed, my 6-year-old self blew fluff off of dandelions. I traced the engraving on stones, and I climbed into the arms of a cedar tree and watched ants scatter as I peeled its …
‘Dragging Wyatt Earp’
Today’s Flyover People column as seen in The Emporia Gazette: ‘DRAGGING WYATT EARP’ “Returning home is like that. The future gets left behind, a piano dumped on a stark prairie. Suddenly you’re left with nothing but your life and the past. You have returned. Full circle. Everything else is just a blur.” Those are the …