By Doris Schroeder
Looking out the window of our house this morning, I chance to see the blackbirds anxiously hopping across the fallen leaves of the neighbor’s yard across the street, searching for food. Yes, I know, it is winter but they do seem to have an inbuilt happiness about their work. Of course they don’t know they are located in the great state of Kansas and that her birthday is coming up on January 29 and it will be 156 years since she became part of the United States of America. Still, that tidbit of info might be why they are hopping around with so much joy!
John and I both love living in Kansas. We have both enjoyed our trips to Colorado and California, we have marveled at the beauty of Hawaii many times as well as trips we won through our carpet distributor to Spain, Africa, Italy, Mexico and other places. We especially enjoyed going to Germany to see our oldest airman grandson and enjoyed living three weeks in a military apartment in Speicher and taking week end military trips to Paris, Holland and London with our grandson. We even enjoyed staying in “the general’s quarters” the last night of our stay at Spangaleum for the sum total of $35.00.
However, the very best part of our trip was arriving back home, landing at the Wichita Airport, getting our luggage and driving back to our familiar home in Hutchinson, Kansas. Certainly, we enjoyed seeing many of the wonders of the world but to us, the joy of living close to God in the wonderful, simple state of Kansas is what we appreciate the most.
The neighborhood we live in is a pleasant “real” American neighborhood of nice, pleasant families who still care about other people and are all very helpful to each other. During the school months, we see the school bus drive down the street, stopping to let the students on or off until it continues on its way.
Although we are in the city limits, we still, on occasion, are treated to the wild turkeys as they travel though our yards, looking for a little food. It is comforting to observe the hen turkeys guide their brood across the street as the male turkey stands guard. Sometimes we notice a deer or two in our back yard, seeking refreshment. On occasion they don’t even run when we quietly approach them. They can sense the tranquility of the neighborhood and revel in the fact that it is against the law to shoot anything in this area.
We do still remember when our own children, John and Judy, were growing up, how they would play with their neighborhood playmates. Our children had a dog, a black poodle who greatly enjoyed romping around with the kids. One day, however, a stray “naughty” dog visited our street. He killed a neighbor dog and then worked on our “Curly.” The kids all did their best to get him away and finally they did. Curly managed to crawl to the shelterbelt and hid. They looked all over for him but couldn’t find him. Finally, the next morning, he crawled out to the side of the house and we rushed him to the Vet. It was a miracle but he pulled through. I know all the love that surrounded him helped.
After hubby and I retired, we started going to the Farmer’s Market with John’s garden produce in the summer. I know we didn’t do it for the money but it was a lot of fun to meet the people and visit with them. These last two years were the best because people were no longer afraid of being “politically correct” but would say what they really thought. It was heartwarming to visit with the customers and experience this part of Americanism.
Now, as we are breaking in a new president and a new cabinet, we can celebrate the simplicity of Kansas, the good life and most of all the Creator who made us from the dust of the ground.
We can not only sing God Bless America but thank God for Kansas, our Home, Sweet Home!…at least until we arrive in heaven, our destination if we have accepted Christ into our lives!
Altogether now “Happy Birthday, dear Kansas!”
Doris welcomes your thoughts on Kansas. Send to dorisschroeder @att.net
