why i love kansas

now, you might not hear me say this all too often, especially when i am complaining about the fall season being way too short, or there usually not being enough snow in winter (not this year!). and though i've lived here nearly all my life, there are many other places i would love to go that are quite special. but no, there are some truly great things about kansas to be sure.

yesterday late afternoon i was laying outside in a bed of pine needles in 70 degree weather, soaking it in as the sun set. the evening remained beautiful, though very windy. this morning it was a little gloomy, and it turned into a wonderful rainy day. i'm not talking about a pseudo-rainy day where it rains for like an hour, i'm talking about raining all. day. long. yes, glorious. it turned to thunderstorms as it started to get dark. and then it was snowy heavy, slushy flakes, which have since solidified into snowflakes and it's 35 degrees outside. all this in just over 24 hours. all we needed was a tornado in there somewhere. only in kansas.

of course it's funny that our love for a place has to do so much with the weather. never mind the great people, the amazing attractions (or lack thereof), or the proximity to the beach and mountains. weather is such a crazy driving force here in america. no, it's not universal. other countries care about the weather far less than we do--even in agrarian countries much more dependent on it than us. we have to know what the weather will be. we have to use it as a filler in dead conversation. we let it dictate our mood. is it just me or does that seem like an unhealthy level of susceptibility? if something as simple as the weather can do that, what chance do we then have against stronger forces?

oh, sorry for that aside. i'm off my soapbox now. of course i also love kansas for the amazing people, but i've already talked about that. seven hours to the mountains--could be worse. the beach? who needs it? way overrated. besides, the thunderstorms we get here are incredible and are incomparable.