thoughts from places: beyond kansas

This morning before my dad and I went to the shooting range we got in his truck and headed down to Wellington to the court house where I registered to vote I can't believe I'm old enough to stuff like this now.  We didn't take the Kansas Turnpike, mostly because my dad hates the new roundabouts they put in on the Mulvane exit for the casino, instead we took Broadway all the way down and back again.

I've ridden many car rides and even driven several times the stretch on Broadway from K-53/Patriot Guard Highway down to Wellington.  The scenery hasn't changed much over the years with the exception of the big ass casino that's been put in on the corner where Broadway and K-53 intersect, the houses haven't changed, the small airport hasn't changed, it all looks the same.

As I sat there in the passenger seat and looked out to the west I kept imagining what it'd be like to travel outside of Kansas on my own.  I've already been planning my dream summer where I'm going to go to all the special places in Kansas I've been meaning to go to, like Abeliene to the Eisenhower museum, or back to Hutchinson to the Salt Mines and the Space Museum.  All I've ever known traveling wise is the lower half of the midwest and a little portion of the west coast; all of this traveling has been done with my parents.  It's just weird for me to think about traveling now, seeing as I turn eighteen in a short few days time and graduation a few months away, there's no one holding me back after that.

I had a dream a few nights ago, I was at our family reunion sitting around with all my cousins and uncles and aunts.  I think I was a couple years out of college at the time.  They were asking me where I was living and what I was doing, if I was dating anyone; the typical questions that are brought up at family reunions.  I continued to tell them that I was just a nomad. That I wasn't settling down in one place, I was traveling the country and seeing everything it had.

It's almost scary thinking that in less than a year's time I could just set out and travel and never really settle down or anything.  It's extremely tempting to get a job this summer and work for a few months, saving up money and take a year off before going to SC.  Though I don't think I would ever actually do it, mostly because my mom would kill me before I take a year off after high school before going to college; plus, I think I might enjoy it too much to the point where I wouldn't want to come back and go to college.

The things that I do know are this: I'm going to keep dreaming of traveling America, I'm going to work my ass off and live life to the fullest.  Maybe one day I'll get to explore every nook and corner of America and then some, maybe I'll settle down some where that I least expected it. Who knows? Wherever God takes me this year and in the future I'm willing to follow.

Link of the day: The Bullet Stop I'm sorry, this probably appeals to less than one percent of you, but I just had to share it anyways.  I love this place, the guys are so friendly and easy to talk to.  The only bad thing is that their gun smith is usually out on the days we go in to shoot.

days until Senior Year Part 2 begins: 1
days until I become an adult: 4
days until graduation: 136

BEDD 30: a year in review 2011

I've seen a few other bloggers do this already and decided I'd do it too. There really isn't much explanation needed on this one.

JANUARY: Rang in the new year with a group of close friends and had a blast considering all the stress I was going through with all the doctor's appointments I had been coming out of with no new information.  A few days later I celebrated my seventeenth birthday with my mom and dad before we headed to St. Louis the following week for one hell of an interesting doctor's appointment.  Later then in the month, I saw my surgeon and set the date for my hip replacement; I could finally rest a little easier.

FEBRUARY: I was pulled out of school and stuck on an online program two weeks before surgery and managed to do a fair amount of school work considering how anxious I was for the big day to get there.  February 14th, 2011 I had my hip replaced and of course had some chocolate too.  I was visited by a group of close friends that still to this day I am very appreciative to have in my life and thankful they came to see me that night of surgery when I really wasn't very coherent and probably quite cranky.  I saw a new found ambition in myself that I didn't see before, one that wanted to prove everyone wrong about what they had once thought

MARCH: Nothing too terribly important happened except the recovering from surgery.  I was still working hard on regaining strength and mobility.  I also managed to get strangely addicted to March Madness basketball and became slightly outraged when I couldn't watch my teams play.  Went to the Department of Kansas Wildlife and Parks headquarters in Pratt for the first time ever; got my first hunting and fishing duo license and got to go through the  "museum" with dad.  A visit to Pratt also means eating at Donald's  Diner.

APRIL: I was still working hard, and my continuous hard work was paying off.  Went to SC and did a full campus tour with my mom, up the stairs, around the hill, down the stairs, in every building, around every building, up the stairs, down the stairs and around the hill.  It was such a great feeling to be able to keep up with a 20 year old who was taking full strides.  The awesomeness didn't stop here.  The week after that, I did a two mile walk in Wichita with my youth leader, we didn't stop but once during the entire walk.  Through both of these milestone events, it was just absolutely astonishing that the only pain I had at the end of the day was my calf muscles, and that was only because I hadn't been doing so much activity in months.  I also began driving again after not being able to be behind the wheel since early December because of the medicines I was on.  Also in April, I found several new artists and YouTubers who helped me through rough times; including Ministry of Magic boys, ALL CAPS, Mike Lombardo, Chameleon Circuit boys, John and Hank Green and various others.  Didn't do much fishing. :(

MAY: My mom and I moved out and moved to town.  Adjusting to living in town was a bit rough at first, but I found it easier as time progressed. I enjoyed walking most places, like the two blocks to the library and back.  I went to my best friend's graduation, which really put things into perspective for me; I had a year before that would be me.  And then the heat began.  Once again, didn't do much fishing. :(

JUNE: Hot, hot, hot.  June was the start of the hottest summer I've ever experienced in my seventeen years of living in Kansas.  For me, someone who enjoyed being outside started to prefer to be indoors at all times.  MRC classes started up again, I offered my wisdom and help to the theatre classes.  I got to see all of my family at our annual family reunion that was just far away that we could still sleep in our own beds.  I got to finally bond with Uncle Gale, seeing as he's the only one in the family who has gone through a hip replacement.  The same weekend, I went "swimming" for the first time since surgery and had a blast.  Except for my first time ever on a water slide, and ended up with a minor neck injury.  Giving up going to Girls State for the reunion was a great idea, I don't regret that decision one bit, quality family time is big for me.  Too hot to even think about going fishing. :(

JULY: MRC classes continued onwards, and I volunteered on the days when I could manage to get out of bed on time.  Fourth of July I spent at the nursing home volunteering for most of the day and then into the night as I got to help shoot off fireworks and hand out ice cream to the residents.  The trip to western Kansas to see the Bortz side of the family at Uncle Leon's funeral reminded me at any moment you can lose a loved one, and that spending quality time with the ones you love means more than anything else.  This trip also made me fall in love with Kansas all over again.  The hot weather continues on and so does the lack of fishing trips. :(

AUGUST: The start of senior year finally started with a big bang.  Old Settlers was hotter than any other on record, but it was still good fun because of the NFL booth, even if it ended with cool whip and honey in my hair.  Participated in BEDA for the first time, totally worth it.

SEPTEMBER: Wildcat football was off to a great start with the bashing we gave Pratt.  The musical finally gets a slow start, and last minute I decided to audition for a part instead of being head of costumes and make-up.  Cast in chorus I was at first upset but began to realize that theatre was more than I ever imagined it could be.  I also realized that I could set my mind to anything and achieve it.  Took the ACT for the first time, and managed not to die from it.

OCTOBER:  I learned who my real friends were.  Ate lots of sweets and had even more fun with my theatre family.  Joint pain became frequent; at one point the family doctor thought I might have had rheumatoid arthritis.

NOVEMBER: Attempted NaNoWriMo for the second year.  Got farther than last year, which was what I was hoping for.  Had a few rough patches before show week with my arthritis.  Had a great Hell Week, even if I didn't sleep much or get hardly any school work done.  I bawled like a baby during my speech at senior cast bonding, amazed at how much the people around me loved and supported me.  Had a fantastic show run with the rest of the cast, even if closing night ended in a weird way that none of us can really comprehend.  All that can be left said is Mrs. Batman is there, we all know it even if no one else believes us.  Celebrated Thanksgiving with Bubby, Tammy, Natasha and Robert; a great holiday was exactly what I needed.

DECEMBER: More stressful than I would have ever imagined.  Finished the first semester of senior year with a rough note.  Realized that my future is up to me and that I can't let anyone hold me back.  Celebrated a nice quiet Christmas with mom and dad; enjoyed the family time and mom's good cooking.  Moved with mom back in with dad.

link of the day:  Made In America I don't know how many times I've listened to this song. It's probably in my top favorite 100 songs for sure.

days until Senior Year Part 2 begins: 5
days until I become an adult: 8
days until graduation: 140

10DYC: four books

This one was a lot harder to do, just for the fact that I read often but there aren't many books that truly stick out to me.

1. Looking for Alaska

by John Green

I read this over the summer, and though I thought it was a decent book I haven't really thought much about it recently.  It did however give me a lot of food for thought that I thought about a lot over the summer.  One of my favorite quotes actually comes from this book that helped me sort my thoughts out about a situation with a friend of mine that had happened a few years ago.

"Because memories fall apart, too. And

then you're left with nothing, left not even

with a ghost but with it's shadow."

2. The Dictionary

I know: I'm such a nerd.  But seriously, I love the dictionary.  I have a college Merriam Webster dictionary, hard back that my mom bought me last year when school started.  I used it primarily for debate, so there's a ton of sticky notes in it, and I've highlighted important words, that usually pertain to the government in some sort of way.  My English teacher a few weeks ago assigned us this vocabulary list and asked us how we were going to complete it. Someone said to look the words up in the dictionary, and she said that took too long, and that no one wanted to lug around a dictionary. Unknown to most, I keep my dictionary in my car. And I even named it Lucy.

3. Kansas Curiosities

by Pam Grout

I prefer to read things with historical references in them, or history books in general.  Once again, I know I'ma nerd.  While I was living in the library this past summer, I found this book called Kansas Curiosities in the new section.  Considering I love my state a lot and the cover looked interesting I checked it out.  I seriously learned a lot about my home state that I didn't even begin to know.  I read most of the book outloud to my mom, and she didn't know of half the things.  The book basically gives you interesting places to go visit throughout Kansas and a description of the history pertaining to that place.  I've been to about a third of the places in the book (which is the second edition, I have yet to read the first edition).  This book inspired me so much as to put the entire book on my bucket list; I want to check every single one of those places off before I die. And there's a lot of them.

4. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

by J. K. Rowling

I've basically grown up with the Harry Potter series, and I have to thank, again, J. K. for such a brilliant series. In general, the Harry Potter series has helped me through a lot of hard times but if I really had to chose a favorite of them all, I'd chose Deathly Hallows.  Deathly Hallows just seems to be the beginning of everything to me.  Yeah it's the ending to the series, but the fact that it still leaves room for imaging what happens afterwards is nice.  I can't even fully explain why I love Deathly Hallows as much as I do.

Today is awesome because: I'm giving blood for the first time at the American Red Cross who come to our school once a year. Bit nervous, but I"ll be fine.

days until ACT: 30
days until the fall musical: 54
days until I become an adult: 108
days until graduation: 239

backyard beauty

Today at two my mom, dad and I piled into my car and left for western Kansas; specifically Plains, Kansas.  Plains is about four hours away if you take 160 from Wellington, but it's a bit shorter if you take 45 out through Pratt, but I decided to take 160 out for the scenery; and let me tell you I'm happy I did.

Here would be where I would put several photos of the beautiful scenery that we saw as we went up and down the numerous hills; but I was the one driving and as talented as I am, I can't drive highway speeds on a hilly road and take decent photographs will out seriously screwing something up.

Anyway, I was a little hesitant about my decision of taking 160 out here because of the lack of towns.  Since I had my hip replaced, they told me that I need to get up and walk at least every hour, including car rides so I wouldn't get extremely stiff in the hip to the point where I couldn't walk. But eventually I made the decision to take 160 out mainly because I had never driven that way before and sooner or later I'd have to get used to driving new places by myself, so I might as well get a little jump on it now and put my poor directional skills to the test.

Once we passed through Medicine Lodge and got about ten to twenty minutes out we hit what the state has called the Gypsum Hills Scenic Byway.  Let me tell you, it is one of the most beautiful things I've ever seen in Kansas.  And what surprised me the most was the fact that I don't remember much of the Gyp Hills from when I was younger when we'd drive out that way at least once a year.

The Gypsum Hills, which are normally referred to as Gyp Hills and the Red Hills, are located in central Kansas just north of the Oklahoma state line.  Traveling 160 it seems like someone just plopped down the road on top the hills and everything. I found it almost difficult to stay focused on the winding road and going up and down all the hills at over 65 mph and not stare off to look at the rolling hills, mesas and canyons that make up the Gyp Hills.  I tried stopping at each of the scenic outlooks and historical markers to "stretch " and "walk my hip" but my parents saw through that and knew I just wanted to bask in Kansas' beauty and made me keep on driving.

There really aren't words to describe the Gyp Hills, even if I could find the right adequate words it wouldn't be enough to express how beautiful they are.  Even the photos that I found of the Gyp Hills do it justice.  It's one of those things that you just have to see for yourself.

insanity

If you haven't heard of the wave of tornadoes that have devastated a large portion of the country, you must live under a rock, I'll cut you some slack if you're not from the U.S. though.  Living in Kansas I've been through several very severe storms.  Including a too close for comfort encounter that scared the crap out of me and has made me freak out slightly at the sound of a tornado or severe storm being any where near that location.  Unfortunately for the people of the more eastern states, they've had to experience tornadoes at their worst possible moments.

On April 27th, there was over 160 reported tornadoes across the United States. To a person who has lived in Kansas all of their life, even in just 17 years, I can remember the countless nights during the summer, several nights in a row, watching the local television station cover several tornadoes that had popped up seemingly out of no where.  One particular tornado that I remember clearly was the Greensburg tornado that wiped the town off the map.  Even today, a few years after it happened, driving through the town you can see damages from the treelines.  It's a hard concept to grasp, that such damage could be done all over the nation within a 24 hour range, damaging buildings, vehicles and taking several people's lives.

Another concept, one that is far more complex to me, is how when a disaster of any sort happens, there is a good portion of people who will jump in and do nearly anything including risking their own lives to help people who have been affected.  But it isn't until these disasters occur that we see such a large helping hand of normal citizens.  We're all in this together.

Photos and articles from the April tornadoes ---> Click
Map of reported tornadoes in April ---> Click
Facts and radars from the Greensburg tornado ---> Click
Article on the anniversary of the Greensburg tornado ---> Click

the real kansas

I'd like to think of my self as a pretty well rounded traveler. I've been to several states but mostly I've kept to around the tornado alley region.  The one thing that really gets me is when someone finds out where I'm from, from Kansas, nearly everyone comments on the great state of Kansas as the "boring" state.  I beg to differ, there is so much to Kansas that even people who have lived here all their lives have not experienced.

The other day my dad and I went out west to Pratt, Kansas where the Department of Kansas Wildlife and Parks headquarters are located to get our fishing and hunting licenses for the year when I begin to think this through.  I've thought about this several times before but never in this much depth.

I've noticed a lot that society tends to look and live for the material things in life.  Whether it be nice hotels down to five star restaurants and even having the most up to date technological devices.  I think things like these is part of the reason why several people think Kansas is boring.  Yeah, we're a flat state but there's more to us then that and a bunch of wheat.

Every where you go there's one thing in common but it varies from place to place. A little thing we call nature.  I've been extremely blessed to have been born into such a good family that has let me experience nature in it's many forms, whether it be through traveling, camping or even just a walk down the road.  Our family, especially when I was younger would go camping frequently, we've nearly always had some form of camper that we would take out nearly every weekend to various locations around the state.   I never appreciated it then, but nature is great.

Kansas is great.  People generally have a name by association thing they do when they hear about Kansas.  We've got wheat, lots of it.  We have that famous or infamous depending from where you're at, Kansas vs. K-State rivalry, and a lot of other stuff that frankly I'm too tired to really make my mind remember at the moment. I'm sure though that you, the reader, probably have other things that you associate with Kansas...Oh and tornadoes, lots of those in the summer.  What I'm trying to get at, is that people, don't take the time out to really get to know a place.

When I was out in Pratt earlier this week, I stood on the edge of a stock pond at the KDWP and I couldn't believe how connected I felt to nature, probably more connected feeling that I have felt in a very long time.  I'm the type of person that I would probably change my major to marine biology just to be able to work with the state of Kansas and get to work hands on first glance with the land that I love.

This probably seems like a lame blog, but when I was thinking about it, it seriously sounded better in my head then what it turned out to be.  Nature is a wonderful thing that many people take for granted.  It'll always be there but many people never really get to experience it first hand.