Thinking about our upcoming trip to Kansas

July is still tornado season. Yikes! Though I have to admit when we went back for Eric's brother's wedding and saw a twisty cloud moving away from us, it was interesting to watch. If it had been coming toward us it would have been different. I'm amazed how many people live in that area and don't have storm cellars. That twisty cloud did turn into a tornado and tore up a few houses.

The storms in tornado alley are incredible, I'll give them that. The only place I've ever seen it rain like that was Hawaii. The major difference being that the tradewinds of Hawaii blow the heaviest humidity away right afterwards. In tornado alley, it just sits on you and makes you feel like you weigh twice as much as you do.

I'm getting excited about the bugs. Summer in Kansas is a noisy time. I love hearing all the bugs, day and night they hum and trill and buzz. It's lovely white noise to go to sleep to. The cicadas here in California just have one note. The cicadas there warble. This year they should be really loud with the 17-year hatching! It's especially cool to hear the bugs and a bunch of frogs together. I wonder if we can come up with recording equipment this time? We keep wanting to record an high quality hour's worth in stereo to play when we go to sleep.

When we traveled after D&S's wedding all those years ago, we did a bunch of cave tours and on the way back we crossed the Spoon river at sunset. I got an amazing photo when Eric waited for no traffic and backed up on the bridge for me to snap it.

Spoon River at sunset

Then we stopped to listen to frogs in somebody's very long driveway. We counted five different calls. It was a very romantic moment, watching fireflies, listening to bugs and frogs at dusk. We didn't stop long because the farmer's dog discovered our presence and started barking. Earlier that day, we'd gone to the top of the great arch in St. Louis. Not good for the claustrophobic but then, neither are caves.

I wonder if there are any caves we could drive to in an overnight trip that we haven't already seen? The caves that go along the top of Arkansas and the length of Missouri are so colorful and beautiful. There are so many minerals in the soil that leach into the calcite. Our caves here in California seem so sterile with their snowy white calcite. Well, it's snowy white if it hasn't been touched by people. Then it turns mucky brown from bacteria.

Some of the caves in Missouri were closed for the season when we were on our grand cave tour a couple of years before D&S's wedding. That trip was 10 caves in 8 days. We also spent a day in Branson, Missouri seeing a show and going to Silver Dollar City. I highly recommend Silver Dollar City if you like handcrafting and/or rides. You have to have strong legs, though. It's built on a pretty steep hill. It's a lovely family amusement park. The glassblowers amazed us. We bought a beautiful vase that still sits on our mantle.

Eric really doesn't want to visit the big ball of twine or the OK Corral in Dodge City. His mom grew up in Dodge City and her family isn't *cough* the healthiest in the world. He may have bad memories tied to it.

Hmmm.. maybe we can travel up to see D&S and the girls and hit a cave on the way! Maybe... but I think we toured all the caves up that way the year they got married.

Fireflies! Fireflies! I'm looking forward to seeing fireflies for the third time in my life! They're so magical!

Friday five

1. What is the federal voting age where you live? Do you feel it's too low, too high, or just right?
The federal voting age in the US is 18. I think it's just right.

2. How old were you when you first voted (if ever)? 18


3. Did you have any interest in voting before you reached voting age? Why or why not?
Yes. I came of age as the draft for Vietnam ended and the Watergate hearings were happening. Vietnam and Watergate were catalysts for me. I wanted to do everything I could to stop corruption.

4. What is the minimum legal age (if any) to be elected to the federal house(s) of government where you live? What's the minimum for the federal leader(s) (e.g.prime minister, president, supreme benevolent leader), if any? Do you feel these ages are too low, too high, or just right?
The House of Representatives minimum age is 30, I believe. Or is it 25? The president must be at least 35. I think to lead a country you need to have lived long enough to have some perspective so 35 is about right.


5. What changes do you think it would make in the political landscape of your area if the voting age were lowered to 16? 14?
I think the country would become incredibly unstable if the young people bothered to vote. No, it wouldn't be good. People need to understand history and world civics to make good decisions. Some of the important stuff isn't taught until the end of high school.