By Today’s Flyover People column as seen in The Emporia Gazette: Here’s a photo I swiped from my brother’s blog (Too Long in the Wind). This part of the Pawnee Rock fire station building was the city hall/library. Photo credit: Leon Unruh. LIBRARY LOVE When I was a little kid, the best thing about my …
‘Dog of the Afterworld’
Today’s Flyover People column as seen in The Emporia Gazette: ‘DOG OF THE AFTERWORLD’ I’m keeping my eye out these days for handsome Russian assassins. I had never considered the possibility of one roaming freely around Kansas until I read my brother’s newly released first novel, “Dog of the Afterworld.” His story is a …
Great American Market
Today’s Flyover People column as seen in The Emporia Gazette: GREAT AMERICAN MARKET At 4:00 a.m. the sky is full of stars. I assumed that, of course, but now I know for sure. A few minutes later, looking at Facebook, I noticed that Casey Woods had posted a photograph from downtown Emporia showing …
The Junk Room
Today’s Flyover People column as seen in The Emporia Gazette: THE JUNK ROOM During Labor Day weekend, boxes were scattered about in our living room, the kitchen, the hallway. Stacks of books leaned like the Eiffel Tower. Dave and I moved century-old, real-wood furniture. A cabinet went into the bedroom. Dave removed three interior doors …
At the Car Show
Today’s Flyover People column as seen in The Emporia Gazette: AT THE CAR SHOW At the Cruisin’ the Campus event recently, classic cars were parked along the circle drive at Emporia State University. I stuck my head inside of an old Chevrolet and remembered the car interiors of my youth: the metal dashboard, AM …
Generations Past
Today’s Flyover People column as seen in The Emporia Gazette: GENERATIONS PAST My cousin Laramie contacted me last week and made arrangements to pick up our great-grandmother’s china cabinet. The cabinet had been handed down to me by my father. When I was ready to let it go, Laramie seemed like the logical cousin …
Where the Highway Ends
Today’s Flyover People column as seen in The Emporia Gazette: WHERE THE HIGHWAY ENDS In the summer of 1965, my parents took my brother and me to the Arkansas River, a mile south of Pawnee Rock, to see the flood. Heavy rains in Colorado had sent a crash of water downstream. This was a mighty …
A Rainy Monday
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 …
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 …