We're on our way to Oklahoma City. This was supposed to be the first stop on the road to a derby event, but as it was canceled, and our OKC hotel room was paid for and nonrefundable, we're turning this into a neat little overnight trip.
These road trips remind me of why I love the Midwest. Even when you're in civilization, you're only minutes from wilderness and greenery. Years living in SoCal dulled my memories of just how pure a joy a wide open landscape is, and how I can just breathe better when there's more room to breathe. The first time we went to visit some of my husband's family, we drove through a farmstead and my heart leapt. My husband snorted and said, "Enjoy it. In 10 years, it'll be houses." By the time we left four years later, it was being turned into a housing community.
Kansas City is far from the largest city in the Midwest, but it's so much easier to navigate than Chicago, where my husband grew up.
People, upon hearing that I'm from Kansas, will talk about Kansas being flat, but I figure they've never actually been on the rolling hills of the Sunflower State.
I had no choice in the matter of being born and bred in Kansas (making me, according to the song we learned in elementary school, a jayhawker, in spite of my avoidance of KU as an alma mater). But as an adult, I've chosen to return to the state of my birth, with a renewed loyalty to it, a new appreciation of its charms, and the desire to correct all who would disparage it.
No, we're not known for BBQ because "(we) grow pigs there."
No, we don't tip cows for fun.
Yes, we have CD players.
And your approval is neither required nor desired.
These road trips remind me of why I love the Midwest. Even when you're in civilization, you're only minutes from wilderness and greenery. Years living in SoCal dulled my memories of just how pure a joy a wide open landscape is, and how I can just breathe better when there's more room to breathe. The first time we went to visit some of my husband's family, we drove through a farmstead and my heart leapt. My husband snorted and said, "Enjoy it. In 10 years, it'll be houses." By the time we left four years later, it was being turned into a housing community.
Kansas City is far from the largest city in the Midwest, but it's so much easier to navigate than Chicago, where my husband grew up.
People, upon hearing that I'm from Kansas, will talk about Kansas being flat, but I figure they've never actually been on the rolling hills of the Sunflower State.
I had no choice in the matter of being born and bred in Kansas (making me, according to the song we learned in elementary school, a jayhawker, in spite of my avoidance of KU as an alma mater). But as an adult, I've chosen to return to the state of my birth, with a renewed loyalty to it, a new appreciation of its charms, and the desire to correct all who would disparage it.
No, we're not known for BBQ because "(we) grow pigs there."
No, we don't tip cows for fun.
Yes, we have CD players.
And your approval is neither required nor desired.
No comments:
Post a Comment