We Aren't In Kansas Anymore, Toto

Today is Kansas' birthday! Bet you didn't know that. Unless of course you're from Kansas, in which case ... you cheated. Kansas Day was always one of those super fun days at school growing up. It usually included feeling up some buffalo fur, eating some sunflower seeds, learning all about the covered wagons & of course, "Per aspera ad Astra", Kansas' state motto, which translates to "To the stars through difficulties."

(The state flower is the sunflower, the state song is "Home On The Range", the state bird is the meadowlark, the state tree is the cottonwood and the state reptile is the ornate box turtle. You're welcome.)

(PS - I did ALL that without Google!)

ANYWAY.

I was born and raised in Kansas. I spent the first 4 years of my life in Wichita. All I remember about Wichita is a few wicked tornadoes and the awesome swing set my Dad built in the back yard with a bright yellow "slipper-slide". We moved to Topeka (the capital - BAM) before I started kindergarten and there I would spend my adolescence. The same elementary school. The same middle school. The same high school, despite moving almost every single year from ages 5-18. My Mom stayed home with us, my Dad worked for KP&L until he and my Mom started his construction business. I remember them sitting at the kitchen table picking colors for the "For Sale" signs.

I guess you could say I'm Kansas through and through. My favorite movie EVER is The Wizard of Oz. I'm a die-hard Kansas Jayhawks fan and though they are usually an embarrassment, I cheer on the KC Royals and KC Chiefs. (Even though they are technically on the MO side.) I have a crazy fascination with severe weather & if the sirens are sounding you can usually find me outside or in my car. Sunsets in Kansas compare to no other, and in the spring when they start to burn the prairie ... THAT is my favorite. The flames at night, coming to the edge of I-70. It's magic.

I'm pretty fond of my home state. I'm a country girl at heart. I love the prairie, the livestock, the fairs. All of it.

So, imagine everyone's shock when I left it all behind for a new kind of favorite. In November I left the Kansas prairie for the beautiful forests and mountains of east-central Alabama. There is no comparison. Both Kansas and Alabama are beautiful. BEYOND beautiful. No matter how long I live here, I will forever be the girl who drives 5 mph on the back highway, gawking at the mountains, the woods, the "Beware Avalanche" signs.

Leaving Kansas wasn't as hard as I thought it would be. At first I felt guilty. But then I realized, it wasn't hard because I carry Kansas with me. My family, my friends, my favorite things. I'll see some livestock grazing the valley here and I think of Kansas. I see some random wheat and I'm right back in Oz.

I guess it's true. You can take the girl out of Kansas, but you can't take the Kansas out of the girl!

So, happy birthday Kansas! Thanks for raising me to appreciate the small things, the vast prairies, the simple silence and everything in between!