As we celebrate Kansas Day again, all the words to Home on the Range, the Kansas state song:

VERSE 1
Oh, give me a home where the buffalo roam,
where the deer and the antelope play,
Where seldom is heard a discouraging word
And the sky is not clouded all day.

CHORUS
A home, a home where the deer and the antelope play,
Where seldom is heard a discouraging word
And the sky is not clouded all day.

VERSE 2
Oh, give me the gale of the Solomon vale,
Where life streams with buoyancy flow,
On the banks of the Beaver, where seldom if ever
Any poisonous herbage doth grow.

VERSE 3
Oh, give me the land where the bright diamond sand
Throws its light from the glittering stream
Where glideth along the graceful white swan,
Like a maid in a heavenly dream.

VERSE 4
I love the wild flowers in this bright land of ours;
I love too the wild curley’s scream,
The bluffs and white rocks and antelope flocks
That graze on the hillsides so green.

VERSE 5
How often at night, when the heavens are bright
With the light of the glittering stars,
Have I stood here amazed and asked as I gazed
If their glory exceeds this of ours.

VERSE 6
The air is so pure, the breezes so free,
The zephyrs so balmy and light,
I would not exchange my home here to range
Forever in azure so bright.

I’ve lived in a lot of places. I think I could live in and like a lot of other places. The Carolinas. Southern Virginia. Nebraska. Texas.

I’d absolutely love to live in Kansas again.

Happy Kansas Day! Providing one of the best lives this side of heaven since January 29, 1861.

-k-

H/T: The Kansas Sampler Foundation, for the excellent “All Things Kansas” blog, for the lyrics.Technorati Tags: Kansas Day

On January 29, 1861, Kansas was admitted to the Union. I’ve made no bones about my love of the place here on this old blog. I’ve also mentioned numerous times that I’d go back there to live and work, should the opportunity arise. So this year, I’ll just look at the above photo, imagine the wind, and the sound it makes as it ruffles this wheat field into more shades of green than you can count.

I’ll also cite a little piece of poetry, found here. This expresses my feelings about as well as anything I’ve found.

Wandering children of Kansas away,
By mountain, by desert, or sea,
Feasting or fasting, at prayer or at play,
Whatever your fortunes may be,
Open the doors of your hearts to the breeze,
Prairie winds never are still,
Hark to the surf in the cottonwood trees,
The breakers that boom on the hill.
Open your soul’s windows-let in the sun-
The prairie sun gay with delight.
Where’er your wandering pathways have run,
Come home tonight.

–From: “A Song for Kansas Day” by William Allen White

-k-

H/T for the photo: Dave Leiker and his wonderful Postcards from Kansas series, licensed through Creative Commons. Thanks, Dave!

kansas day

On January 29, 1861, the great state of Kansas was admitted to the Union. It has become a tradition for me to make note of that date on this old blog, to express some of the love I have for Kansas, and sometimes pine for the day that I can go back there to live.

In conversation with non-Kansans, they sometimes mention how they “drove through Kansas” once, and man, was it boring. It usually turns out that they drove (or more likely, barreled) through the Sunflower State on Interstate 70. Now, there are some fine towns and great people along I-70. I guess, though, when your goal is to get through a place, that one gas station, convenience store, or nationally franchised fast-food place looks pretty much the same as another.

So here’s some advice; get off the interstate, go on the two-lane highways, the gravel and dirt roads, and see what you can find. You may come across a scene similar to this picture. Imagine that you’ve found a hill overlooking this field¹. The wind blows a bit practically all the time, and this green wheat would reveal colors from light green, to chartreuse, to deep forest green, as the grain waves in the wind. It reminds me of ocean waves, and it’s breathtaking.

As the fields ripen, the colors go to more colors of gold than I have descriptions for; again, I always think of the ocean when I see it.

So, Happy Birthday, Kansas. Maybe I’ll be back there before you are 148.

-k-
Photo Credit: Prairie Pathways
Picture posted with “Click to Embiggen.”
[stags]Kansas, Kansas Day[/stags]
[tags]Kansas, Kansas Day[/tags]