Serenity in the Flint Hills

I discovered a lovely little nugget in the Flint Hills of Kansas this week... Cottonwood Falls.
It's a serene setting, perfect for quiet reflection and full of treasures waiting to be framed in your lens and captured for future stories.

The Courthouse is perched high upon the hill as if to be the sentenal standing watch down the main street. The Chase County Courthouse is the oldest operating courthouse in Kansas. To the credit of that county and community they show their great pride in the building as you will clearly see upon entering. Aligning the great historic presence with the needs of a modern day functioning courthouse would certainly be a trick, but one they have meshed well.

The beautiful staircase you see in the entrance climbs with an irregular curve and I would imagine a carpenters nightmare. The modern day elevator is nicely accessible but not obvious.

The jail area is uncomfortable as it should be and almost gives you the chills with the thoughts of criminals past. Their hashmarks scratched into the cell gates, bars and walls start the imagination. 

As you meander down the street still paved of brick you can stop in at Jim Bell and Son to don your cowboy gear before walking to the now footbridge, at the end of the street to see the beautiful falls lined with fallen timbers that seem to have been preserved to enhance your viewing pleasure.

As you turn back south you can enjoy a fantastic meal and retire to your room in the Grand Central Hotel. The authenticity of the decor (but not over the top) and the treat for your tastebuds the cuisine provides will round out  your experience.

The Tallgrass Prairie Preserve is nearby and could requires a days worth of attention with your camera.

The signs are everywhere!

I just drove by one of our community ball diamonds where they're dragging the dirt infield. Another great sign that spring is almost really here. Like the crocus bulbs sending up their green foliage through the brown leaves of fall past, the baseballs flying in and out of kids well worn leather, best gloves, it's a sign of the rebirth of all things living. People come out of their houses and their cocoons of winter outer wear and the smiles are more abundant. Right now mother nature teases with an off and on day of sunshine but we know what's under that gray wrapping paper. Green grass, brightly colored flowers and sparkles in the eyes of those cabin fevered humans. Bring it on!

Seeing the light!

For the past 3 months we've been making the efforts sometimes tiring and frustrating effort to get our house ready to go up for sale. As we've been making those little completions we just never got to, or polishe dup something we just never bothered, my husband and I both made the comment that it's funny how we never felt compelled enough to do this while actually living here but now we do for someone else?
As much as that may be true I think it also speaks to the fact that we couldn't see the forrest for the trees because so much stuff had piled up! We were like rolling stones with a ridiculous magnetic force to attract all things needed or not. Now we aren't crazy collectors or hoarders of any kind but things just add up!
Once we decluttered and scaled down it was almost as if you could see the whole family stand a little taller. I've actually walked into our backroom without that dreaded reminder of so many things left undone. I'm ready for us to get our first home together sold and move on to new memories and dreams. I hope that we have infused alot of good energy into this house and it will reflect to the right buyer and we will be on our merry way! The next house...we will finsih projects and keep up. It just snowballs if you don't and then even being there is painful. No reason to save the special dishes for a special day. You're special and everyday you have on this planet is a special opportunity!

You don't know what you don't know

Over the past few weeks I've experienced a wide variety of examples...
When you go to a "show" whether it be a show full of exhibitors for women, gardening or fishing do you not go one, for the free stuff and two, to learn more or discover something new? So when you meander past booth after booth, you are immediately stopped by free stuff right? And then next by noticing something that surprises or intrigues you if not something that is already familiar to you. So if you are the exhibitor and your product is still in the widely unknown column, handing an interested party something on your product should probably be accompanied by the "oh and we have this too" information as well? If they don't know what you have, who you are or even have maybe a stereotypical take on your product, don't you want to give them all that you have to show them who you really are? Just because they're at a fishing show doesn't mean they don't also like to go to concerts, eat or other activities. But if they don't know you have those opportunities they can't ask you for more information.
Rules for "shows"
Don't be stingy with your stuff, free or otherwise, do be enthusiastic, don't be timid, do make eye contact and greet as many as are willing to allow, do share your excitement.
Think about what you would expect from anyone in the customer service. Would you bank with a banker who didn't look you in the eye? Would you tip a waitress who chose to read a newspaper instead of refilling your water? It surprises me how some exhibitors judge their success on a show by how many walked by their booth and not on how many they may have actually reached by making new connections and sharing your enthusiasm for your product. Throwing a big picture up in the background and setting up a table does not entitle you to my attention.

Please let the sun shine soon

I truly think the lack of sunlight our area has experienced is starting to take it's toll on the minds of everyone around me and me! It's almost as if the life has been sucked right out of us. It's toughter to get out of bed and then it's tougher to keep going through the day and when you get home you really just want to collapse. I'm not sure how folks in areas like Alaska survive with limited sunlight inthe winter. While I can appreciate having 4 seasons here, I would really like to move on to the next!

It's Official

Ladies and gentleman, sedate yourselves. You are officially at the beginning of that journey called teenager-dom. Gawd save ya! Our daughter has always been that little blond haired princess that makes it really easy to be a proud parent. Honor roll from the time she could get grades, helpful, looks people in the eye and carries on conversations with adults fromthe moment she could form words. Tonight we did the parent teacher conference thing. I will admit I tend to go to hers with a bit of expectation, "she's a good student, great leader, yada yada" but this time there was a "but" and it came at us like a sucker punch. Granted, it really wasn't something of great consequence, but the princess dropped her tiara.
After I could gather my thoughts tonight I started thinking about my time that was her time now. I remembered. Boys were quite the subject. Girls were flexing their flirty muscle with the boys with one eye and tearing each other up with the other one. Even the negative attention from the boys...shoving, play punches etc would get your blood movin. I had a thing in middle school for a guy a grade ahead of me. He was nothing but trouble and I knew that. Part of the reason I found him so hot! We all have to have our bad boys and the princess has found hers. So I explained to her that I get it. I do. But what I didn't get back then was that all those things you're willing to put up with for attention aren't worth your time. What you can do for yourself and your future is live in those little moments but don't ever jeopardize your future and your integrity for a boy. She set the bar high for herself by showing me she was an A student and a leader. I explained that I jsut want her to live up to her potential that she's already displayed. I think she gets it. I don't know how longit will stick but I think she gets it. I hope she gets it before I finally got it!

Groundhog Schmoundhog

Okay, so maybe that's not a word but I would have to say the overall mood about this season of winter is less than stellar right now. It seems the extra cold, grey skies are not helping even the perkiest of personalities right now. I'm tempted to find one of those sunshine lamps... Bring on the sun and the warm air.
I've often thought I would like to eventually live in Colorado. My husband was giving me a hard time about that fact as I was complaining about the possibility of more snow. But in Colorado there are fun things to do with the snow! Here, it's just mostly a pain in the butt!