So, what do you LOVE about Kansas? (Wichita, Lawrence: how much, home)

[luzianne]

Originally Posted by KansasKris

Oh, I'm a Jay, Jay, Jay, Jay, Jayhawk
Up in Lawrence by the Kaw (river)
Oh, I'm a Jay, Jay, Jay, Jay, Jayhawk
With a sis-boom-hip-hoorah!

I've got a beak that's big enough
to twist a Tigers tail (Missouri)
Husk some corn and listen to
the Cornhuskers wail

Oh, I'm a Jay, Jay, Jay, Jay Jayhawk
Riding on a Kansas gale!

....

Oh no! You gotta have the sound effects!! http://www.ku.edu/about/traditions/songs/imajhawk.mp3

[j_k_k]

Originally Posted by pamark1

Oh Lordy!!! Breathe Pam, Breathe Pam!!! Rattlers and Cougars and badgers.... oh my! (sorry, couldn't resist the WOO reference ). I think I'm going to have to grow some courage before I move out there.....

I can't wait.

Actually, there's a subtle excitement in it, especially when you develop the habit of awareness. The way I explain it is that when I look out in my aunt's pasture and up the draw, or down toward the creek, most outsiders would see a bucolic country scene. I on the other hand see a war zone, where many creatures strive to hunt many other creatures, some I can see and some I can't right now. Some of the combatants can only annoy me (vole, mouse). Some create hazards for me and would gladly fight me if I stood still (badger). Most are desperate to avoid me, but some have the ability to end my life: rattlers, bobcat if somehow taken by surprise (pretty rare). For the most part I'm a bystander in the war, which is how I like it--but only a fool goes to a war zone and acts like he's in downtown Peoria.

In Kansas, you never quite know for sure what you'll see or what will turn up. Like the time my uncle calls to me from the granary to ask how I am with snakes. I tell him pretty good, why does he ask? He says, in that case come on in. Two large kingsnakes (friends of humankind) are trapped in some netting. Now, we had planned that day on cultivating the vineyard. Instead, small Kansas style diversion: we performed ad hoc Chase County Kingsnake Rescue. I hope those snakes are long enough lived that they're still alive and well and eating varmints.

[pamark1]

Originally Posted by j_k_k

Actually, there's a subtle excitement in it, especially when you develop the habit of awareness. The way I explain it is that when I look out in my aunt's pasture and up the draw, or down toward the creek, most outsiders would see a bucolic country scene. I on the other hand see a war zone, where many creatures strive to hunt many other creatures, some I can see and some I can't right now. Some of the combatants can only annoy me (vole, mouse). Some create hazards for me and would gladly fight me if I stood still (badger). Most are desperate to avoid me, but some have the ability to end my life: rattlers, bobcat if somehow taken by surprise (pretty rare). For the most part I'm a bystander in the war, which is how I like it--but only a fool goes to a war zone and acts like he's in downtown Peoria.

In Kansas, you never quite know for sure what you'll see or what will turn up. Like the time my uncle calls to me from the granary to ask how I am with snakes. I tell him pretty good, why does he ask? He says, in that case come on in. Two large kingsnakes (friends of humankind) are trapped in some netting. Now, we had planned that day on cultivating the vineyard. Instead, small Kansas style diversion: we performed ad hoc Chase County Kingsnake Rescue. I hope those snakes are long enough lived that they're still alive and well and eating varmints.

Awesome!! Snake rescue! I love snakes...... won't keep them as pets, cause I don't think they should be.... but absolutely love them. I have a Baccalaureate Degree in Biology (Vert. Zoo.).... so I've had my fun tromping through the swamps of South Carolina identifying Copperheads/Cottonmouths/Eastern Diamondbacks/Alligators/etc...... it was fun! I will just have to go back into that mindset..... and teach the kids to be alert. We have gotten complacent here in West GA..... not much bothers us in our subdivision.... just neighbors with too much booze and loaded guns.

[j_k_k]

Originally Posted by pamark1

Awesome!! Snake rescue! I love snakes...... won't keep them as pets, cause I don't think they should be.... but absolutely love them. I have a Baccalaureate Degree in Biology (Vert. Zoo.).... so I've had my fun tromping through the swamps of South Carolina identifying Copperheads/Cottonmouths/Eastern Diamondbacks/Alligators/etc...... it was fun! I will just have to go back into that mindset..... and teach the kids to be alert. We have gotten complacent here in West GA..... not much bothers us in our subdivision.... just neighbors with too much booze and loaded guns.

It took us about fifteen minutes to cut the snakes loose, had to be very gentle. After that we turned them loose--if they were dehydrated, they knew best how to remedy that.

I think you'll like Kansas. First useful tidbit: when driving down rural roads, wave by raising one or two fingers off your steering wheel. No one will mistake your index finger for the bird; this is the standard understated polite Kansas rural road greeting. I usually raise two, just to be easier seen.

Kansans aren't usually very demonstrative, but respond well to southern-style manners, which I think is one reason Southerners tend to do well there. The four words which do me the most good in Kansas are Ma'am, Sir, Mr. and Mrs. I still remember a cowboy boss in his fifties coming over to help me and my grandfather with a cutting torch used to build fence reinforcement. He wouldn't dream of calling my grandfather 'John' any more than I would dream of calling him 'Joe'. Joe, by the way, had moved up from Mississippi. Their only significant disagreement came when Joe was tardy in removing a deceased steer that was too close to the house in August, but eventually with persistence he brought a Bobcat over and interred the remains, greatly improving the atmosphere around the ranch house. There's a typical Flint Hills story for you.

[tinkmom3]

Here is what there is to love about Kansas:
The barbecue!! we are the BEST!
ALL THE CHRISTIANS AROUND US! We have a great church in Topeka and are hoping to duplicate that in Arizona.
The safety-I am a female, night runner. I have NEVER had a problem when taking a late jog.
The one and the only JAYHAWKS! You will be able to proudly wear a one of a kind mascot, and hey, they are winners, too!
The Wizard of Oz comments? why is that a negative? Other states don't have a movie classic of this longevity to be associated with.
The fabulous thunder storms-hoping Arizona can match this or we will suffer from weather boredom.
Ice storms: okay, hear me out. Forget the pain they can be, you have never seen anything so beautiful as trees and homes coated in fresh, white ice. It is stunning.
Western Kansas: for the most part I would not ever live there because of the sparse civilization and the wind. BUT, driving down a stretch of 70, with nothing but open space and bright blue sky with bright white clouds in the sky...a windmill or vintage barn here and there~~absolutely gorgeous. Then comes the red/orange/golden sundown. We don't get to experience this in Eastern Kansas.
There you go-lots of things to love that are specific to Kansas. It will be what you make it, if you are a person who is looking for negative, you will find it. Look for the beauty and BE WHERE YOU ARE.

[smellykat]

Originally Posted by j_k_k

I think you'll like Kansas. First useful tidbit: when driving down rural roads, wave by raising one or two fingers off your steering wheel. No one will mistake your index finger for the bird; this is the standard understated polite Kansas rural road greeting. I usually raise two, just to be easier seen.

Wow! That brought back memories. My deceased father-in-law, driving the old Chevy pickup down gravel roads, always did that. How he loved to fish those country fishing holes.

[KevK]

Originally Posted by ShyDaisi

I know that it is more enjoyable to bash than to uplift, but after reading the "I hate KS!" thread, I would love to hear what you DO like/love about living in Kansas.

I may have the potential to move to Wichita in the late winter or early spring. So far the most popular negatives seem to be:
- The weather
- High concentration of religious people
- High concentration of conservatives
- Lack of things to do
- Wizard of Oz references

And none of those seem like horrible things to me... I think that "lack of things to do" is a state of mind. It can't be hotter there than in TN during the summers, and I am looking forward to building snowmen with my son (which is a rarity here these days). I don't have problems with people having different opinions than mine, and as the WOO reference isn't old to me yet, that isn't a problem either.

So, what keeps you in Kansas? What do you love? Any Wichita specifics would be a bonus!!

ALL those are negatives to me except the Oz crap. That never bothers me. But the religious zealots get on my nerves. I don't like it when others try to use the government to run my life. It is MY money that I earned and if I damn well wanna buy a bottle of Jack Daniels and play poker, that is NONE of anybody else's damn business! And if my daugher- God forbid- came home pregnant, the decision as whether to get an abortion or not is MY family business- nobody else's!
Now the good things about Kansas are this:

It is cheap to live there. Among the cheapest cost of living anywhere.
It does not have traffic jams.
The public schools are quite good.
The people are usually nice and not too rude.
The cops are not overhyped.
Beer is cheap!
The Jayhawks
The Shockers

[KansasKris]

j_k_k,

You are so fortunate to be able to go back to Chase County and stay for a week or two. I grew up in SE Kansas, but fell in love with Chase & Greenwood Counties for the beauty of the Flint Hills.

My father, myself, and my son all went to Camp Wood in Elmdale! What a great place for kids to spend a week or two in the summer. When my grandkids are old enough, I'm going to insist they get a chance to spend some summers there too.

I think we're all talking too much about how great KS is - it's a well kept secret and I think we'd better keep it that way!

[KansasKris]

Luzianne - Thanks!

[j_k_k]

Originally Posted by KansasKris

j_k_k,

You are so fortunate to be able to go back to Chase County and stay for a week or two. I grew up in SE Kansas, but fell in love with Chase & Greenwood Counties for the beauty of the Flint Hills.

My father, myself, and my son all went to Camp Wood in Elmdale! What a great place for kids to spend a week or two in the summer. When my grandkids are old enough, I'm going to insist they get a chance to spend some summers there too.

I think we're all talking too much about how great KS is - it's a well kept secret and I think we'd better keep it that way!

Heat-Moon suggests we 'keep scowling and tell them "Colorado's that-a-way."'

I went over to Elmdale with my uncle to look at a car he was thinking of restoring, but the guy wasn't open. I'm really proud of my uncle for the tremendous amount of engineering knowledge he has donated to restoring older buildings and civic improvements; his name is on that new bridge between Strong and Cottonwood, and with very good reason. It's a great part of the world, vastly underrated. When he wanted to take me to see the old jail in back of the courthouse, my grandfather just took me inside, said hellos to the ladies doing clerical work, and we were waved back at our leisure.

My cousin in Andover (well, between Andover and Wichita...house got flattened in the 1991 twister) has a little farm out near Severy in Greenwood County, where he enjoys spending his weekends; he's from Council Grove, and taught at Matfield Green after graduating from ESTC. One of my Chase cousins by marriage is from Ark City, which may be near your old stomping grounds. He's your prototypical Kansas boy: works hard, loves his family, always glad to help and slow to complain.

Happy day this morning: my wife got me one of those t-shirts from Joecollege.com showing John Brown with the Good Book in one hand and a rifle in the other, and proclaiming: "Kansas--keeping the world safe from Missouri since 1854." Can't wait to wear that one back home, especially since my own beard resembles Brown's.