Wandering Around Kansas

Monday, August 18, 2008

Monday meanderings

This little guy appeared at our place about a two weeks ago, most likely dumped out here by someone, that's how we came to have the other outdoors cats. He's kinda cute and a bit wild, but hes warming up to all the other critters here. Ill try to find a home for him, if not he can hang around here. Ill wait until hes a bit more friendly to have him neutered if he isn't already. He has no name as of yet. He has a white moustache. sort of an opposite color Groucho Marx thing, so Groucho might work.

We are in that time between summer and fall when you can almost feel the seasons pushing against each other like two giant sumo wrestlers. One moment the breeze is out of the north and the air cool, the next the humidity pushes a bit back and heats things up.

These Honeysuckles will bloom clear into November if your lucky. A pretty hardy plant. I am sure they actually grew in our yard in Brooklyn when I was a young boy. The fragrance hits me as I walk by bringing back memories of my friends the Rizzo boys and the O'Briens and the Torterllis and I remember the summer we built a fort out of scraps from all the vacant lots near our block. City kids, we camped out and watched the stars and the sunrise from that fort. Funny how certain smells trigger memories.

Sunday, August 17, 2008

Blue Verbena

(Verbena hastata L.)

Crawford County Kansas

With all the rain we have had this summer we have an explosion of Blue Verbena in our pasture. It does very well according to my field guide in moist meadows. Standing around 3 feet tall,
its the tallest verbena in Kansas

Native Americans used this to treat colds, coughs and digestive disorders. They also made tea with the leaves. I watched large bees working these pretty flowers as the sun set. I could almost hear the bees saying "Ok just one more..Ok just one more".

Saturday, August 16, 2008

Beaumont Hotel Established 1879

On a recent trip to Wichita my wife and I spotted a sign along the highway that read "Historic Beaumont Hotel-->", we are suckers for a chance to get out to walk and explore, so we did. We drove maybe a mile off the highway to a very small town, even small for a prairie town.

As we came through the array of small older homes hunkered down from the prairie winds in groves of cottonwoods and Chinese elm trees we came upon the hotel. Motorcycles and a sign that promised "Cold Beer" piqued my interest. So we parked and headed in to have lunch. As we crossed the street my wife stopped and said 'what in the world.." I looked don the other paved road in town and saw a plane coming toward us.

The plane drove along and eventually stopped at the stop sign.

I watched the pilot look very carefully both ways and the proceed.

He drove over to where I was parked and parked his plane beside my car. Apparently people do this all the time here, they fly in eat lunch, sometimes stay the night and take off. Pilots land on the native grass airstrip, taxi down the paved road and park.

While we ate another plane and a helicopter landed and parked over by my car. Groups of motorcyclists arrived as well.

The hotel was built in 1879 during the cattle drives to the Flint Hills. The tiny town is also home to the oldest historic wooden water tower in the country. The hotel and cafe were filled with photography and vintage plane advertisements, the food was excellent and the people could not have been friendlier. See what exploring gets you.

Tuesday, August 12, 2008

A couple of calves

Bison Calf

Texas Longhorn Calf

Saturday, August 9, 2008

In The Horse Barns

While I was at the county fair last week I wandered around the horse barns. Dark and cooler than the arena there is a certain quiet that's broken by the occasional hoof stomp or that sound horses make when they exhale abruptly kind of a "hurmpfff". Ole Blue eye was there. He had one blue and one brown eye, interesting fellow.