By Today’s Flyover People column as seen in The Emporia Gazette: AUTUMN AGAIN Fall makes us feel as if we have new skin. With cooler temperatures and less humidity, the air is a lot more user-friendly. On my evening walks, I see more Emporians walking, riding bikes, tending to their yards, and sitting on porches. Parks …
Moving Toward Spring
Today’s Flyover People column as seen in The Emporia Gazette: Strawberry pie – Hays House MOVING TOWARD SPRING For months our sky had been holding its breath. Finally in late February the sky exhaled, and a huge cloud of white flakes fell to earth. We found ourselves in deep snow, which is just what we …
Looking for Joy
Today’s Flyover People column as seen in The Emporia Gazette: LOOKING FOR JOY It was the third week of December, 1986. Depressed, I sat alone in my new apartment. The divorce from my (first) husband had been finalized that week. Even if a divorce is the best thing for everyone concerned, it still turns your …
Autumn Days
Today’s Flyover People column as seen in The Emporia Gazette: AUTUMN DAYS The sun moves across the sky more quickly these days, and the once-bright evenings have become cobwebs of darkness. October drives us into that blind curve of autumn with its increasingly uncertain forecasts. It begins the time of year when out-of-town trips …
Adjusting to Summer
Today’s Flyover People column as seen in The Emporia Gazette: Dried up dogwood leaves. ADJUSTING TO SUMMER In the evenings I often stand in the yard with a hose, watering the young trees, the shrubs, the hedge. Now I know I could just leave the hose on the ground for 10-20 minutes and let the …
Restless Summer Days
Today’s Flyover People column as seen in The Emporia Gazette: RESTLESS SUMMER DAYS As a junior high-aged kid, entering summer vacation was like peering into a deep canyon that needed to be filled. Summer was big and empty, and I had no idea what to put into it. Although summer days should have been all …
Night of a Hundred Tornadoes
Today’s Flyover People column as seen in The Emporia Gazette: The Langley Tornado, 4.14.12. Photo by Stephen Locke, used with permission. NIGHT OF A HUNDRED TORNADOES “I can easily recall the pungent scent of this tornado path,” Stephen Locke wrote. “Violent winds strip bark, blend grass, open the earth and liberate a cacophony of volatile …
Send in the Verbs
Today’s Flyover People column as seen in The Emporia Gazette: SEND IN THE VERBS Adjectives and nouns get a lot of use this time of year. The Kansas spring is described as everything from tranquil to tornadic. Spring delivers dandy flowers, dangerous storms, and the sweetest days imaginable. But spring is much more …
Home Has Arrived
Today’s Flyover People column as see in The Emporia Gazette: HOME HAS ARRIVED Green is back. While driving on Prairie Street the other day, I looked at the baby green leaves which cut a colorful new skyline against the background of blue. And one word came to mind: home. Spring returns us to the green …
A bit of green
I gave a presentation in Wichita on Wednesday. Headed south on the turnpike, I was surprised that I didn’t see any burned fields. There was a bit of green in the pastures, but not an overwhelming amount of green yet.
Dogwood
The dogwood bloomed this year, or half of it has. The other half of the tree is dead. Last summer was too hard on this poor little tree.