Monday, January 29, 2007

Happy Kansas Day!
I love my state. I doubt I will ever call anywhere else home. Travel is fine, but after a week I want to be home with my creatures, my chores, my routine, and my own stuff.

Make sure you eat some sunflower seeds today, and whole wheat bread. Have a buffalo burger down at local burger. Enjoy some local products from the Merc.

My favorite places in Kansas:
*Lawrence (duh)
*Kanopolis Resevoir - we used to go on trail rides at Horsethief Canyon - beyootiful!
*Carl's Bar in Hutchinson - so many crazy nights underage.
*Maxwell game Preserve - where you can watch buffalo roam.
*Fritz's in KCK - food ordered on a phone and delivered by a train. Great milkshakes - dip your fries in 'em.
*House of Sight and Sound (aka Song and Bong) in Salina. Best music store/head shop in the midwest. Salina is also home to the wonders of the Cozy Inn, The Scheme Pizza, and Bogeys' Drive Inn.
*Anchor Inn Restaurant in Hutch (i'm Hutch trash if you didn't know). Best Mexican buffet ever!
*Mr. Nussbaum's house - ancient man who lived around the corner from me a mile or two. When we first moved to the house I grew up in we needed a cat. We were told to go see Mr. Nussbaum, who had at least a million cats roaming his property. He reached into a forsythia bush and pulled out a relatively clean cat - white with gray tabby splotches. We dubbed him Mr. O'Malley and took him home. I thought only old ladies collected cats.
*Monitor Brethren Church. This church was 3 miles around the corner and I went there for VBS for 8 years. There is a parsonage still and the quietest cemetery in the shade that I have ever seen.
*Inman Cafe - every Wednesday was Mennonite food and you could go have fresh verenika and bona beroggi. Heaven!
*Garden of Eden - Lucas. If you have never seen this bizarre tribute to early Kansas politics and one man's take on church vs state, you have got to stop here. I hope I can be this weird with art when I am old.
*White Memorial Camp near Council Grove, named after the family who donated the land. I went to summer camp here for a week every summer thru the UCC church for 8 years. First love with Mike Conrad and first doubts about God.
*Medicine Lodge Peace Treaty re-enactment. This is the turf of my parents, and every 3 years folks commemorate the Peace Council of 1867. Of course, the US Guvment fucked the Plains Indians, but the pageant is stunning and takes place in a nautral amphitheatre in the Gyp Hills. Followed by a huge ranch rodeo and a tornado if you're lucky.

Which brings me to famous Kansans.... I can't think of Medicine Lodge without mentioning Carrie Nation.

Check this out for other famous Kansans:
Cool stuff about Kansas and Kansans

Where I grew up we spent this day biting the corner off of Hershey bars to make them look like our state, we dressed up in pioneer outfits, made butter in a hand churn and ate it on homemade bread. I have asked friends from other states if they took similar steps to learn about the cultural heritage of their home states on the anniversaries of their joining the union, and they look at me like I am nuts. Why are we proud to be from a state that most people think of as a dreadful place you have to drive thru to go skiing? The answer is one of our best kept secrets.
posted by Rosie @ 1/29/2007 09:14:00 AM

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