The Sunflower State

I have been trying to figure out why Kansas is called the Sunflower State since I got here. I now understand, and with that understanding has come the realization that no matter how 'worldly' I think I am, I am apparently still carrying preconceived ideas, prejudices and bias around with me.

I am not sure if it is due to the fact that I watched the Wizard of Oz too many times, or if I listened to other peoples ideas too carefully or exactly why, but I realized that when I thought of Kansas, I have always thought the following: flat, corn, wheat, flat, soybeans, rectangular and more flat. While I still think there are parts of Kansas that are flat, my knees and I are very certain that parts of Kansas are very hilly. Not little rolling hills like Michigan, great big hills.

There is a sign just after you drive onto the Kansas Tollway from the east which says something like, "Kansas farmers feed 28 people, themselves, and you!" The rich soil of the valleys have big fields of corn, wheat and soybeans growing in them, so I am guessing that sign is probably true.

But I have still been hung up on the Sunflower State motto. I have wondered if perhaps just to my south there aren't farms growing fields and fields of sunflowers, and I just haven't happened upon them yet. Or maybe they do that far out to the west... it has been a puzzle. That puzzle has now been solved.

You know how, when you drive in Michigan, Indiana or Ohio there are wide carpets of natural grasses, wildflowers and weeds growing just beyond the shoulder of the highways? Often there are huge patches of the dreaded weed goldenrod, which are very pretty to look at but evil for anyone with allergies. Well, much to my surprise, in Kansas there are sunflowers. They are growing along every fence line, along the drainage valleys, through the cement under the overpasses, by the street lights, they are all over the place!

So now I have to wonder... if I have carried all these misconceptions about Kansas all these years, are there others? I am guessing that I have similar preconceived ideas about other places, but I haven't become aware of them yet, and this makes me kind of angry with myself. I don't like the idea that I am carrying such misconceptions around with me everywhere I go.

Seasons

Many people will tell you that spring is their favorite season. I can understand that sentiment, life renews, flowers bloom, the temperatures warm as the days get longer. For some reason, I love fall the best. I don't know if it is because my birthday is in the fall, or because the holiday season is upon us or because the temperatures drop... I am beginning to think it is because that is when the new chapter of life begins for those of us in Academia.

I grew up in a household of academics and my father's joy at the beginning of each new school year was contagious. He would be giddy at the start of every semester, giddy with the possibilities each new class brought to his life. I, on the other hand, used to feel the dread of having to meet new classmates, learn that new locker combination and live up to the standards my parents set by example. Now, however, I can see why Dad was so excited, so many bright minds and wonderful stories to share.

I have lived in several places where the seasons are not the same as here in the Midwest US. I have always been miserable in October in those places - the lack of change making me feel like something important was missing in my life. Florida, California, West Africa - you guys can keep your versions, I like the big changes.

As soon as the temperatures turn cooler I find I am invigorated and suddenly want to cook and bake. Perhaps it is a residual urge, from the times when preparing for the winter was a life or death matter. I am currently struggling with an irrational desire to buy a bushel of tomatoes and put them up for the winter, alone in this tiny apartment where I have neither the space for such an endeavor, nor the bellies to be filled. Instead, this year my challenge is to figure out what I can cook and bake that can be easily stored, consumed and shared. I want to make casseroles, stews and soups and bake all kinds of muffins,  pies and cakes. But I have a tiny freezer, so I am going to have to be careful not to over-do.

I love the Autumn. Bring on the cooler temperatures, steady rains and changing leaves. I am ready to get busy in the kitchen!

9/11

It is amazing how certain events in our lives stick dates out like sign posts to help us mark the milestones in our lives. For me the first one was President Kennedy's assassination on November 22nd, 1963. I had just turned 5 years old. All I really understood was that our President, who apparently everyone loved very much, had been shot and killed. Everyone was sad and we got days off from school. The 60's were troubling years for me growing up, as there was so much violence that I simply could not understand.

For me personally, July of 1967 was probably the most difficult. At 9 years old we were evacuated from the civil war in Biafra and returned to the US only to be greeted by the televised reports of the 6 Day War in the middle east. I clearly remember seeing the images on TV - the first TV images I had understood since we went to Africa two years earlier. 1968 was a terrible year as well since we lost both MLK, Jr and Bobby Kennedy and I was beginning to understand that if you wanted to do good, you ran the risk of being killed. And then, of course, there was Viet Nam...

The 70's were somewhat quieter, starting with the end of the Nigeria-Biafra civil war coming to an end, with Nigeria re-absorbing the Biafrans they had worked so hard to eliminate. This was followed by the Kent State shooting in 1970, the attack on the Munich Olympics in '72, Nixon's resignation in '74, more violence in the Middle East, the end of the Viet Nam conflict in '75 and so on... ad nauseum. Then we had the 80's with more assassinations or attempts. I will never forget the day John Lennon was killed, It was a Sunday in 1980 and I was watching football when they announced the news. I sat on the floor in my kitchen and cried.

Not all of these events have been tragedies. I clearly remember watching the moon landing on July 20th 1969. The Berlin Wall coming down in 1989. the fall of the USSR and the end of Apartheid in 1994 were all milestones for me. These events brought a glimmer of hope that human beings could resolve and embrace their differences and live in peace and harmony.

I was in my English 112 class when the first plane hit the tower on 9/11/01. They sent us home. My children were 10 and 16 and Manu was with us from Germany that fall. I got Manu out of bed when I got home and stunned by the images, we watched the tragedy unfold together.  Like Pearl Harbor for the generation before mine, I quickly realized that this would be the "assassination of President Kennedy" for my children. This would be the first event that they would have as a milestone in their lives.

Someone recently asked me "How do you do it?" referring to my living so far from home. I wasn't quite sure what to say. Today, reflecting on the events of my life, I know the answer to that question. You do whatever you have to do to survive living in a world with so much insanity, violence and uncertainty. You look for the simple joys in life and you go on.