Cafe au art

And tea for those who prefer it.

Ripple and Cross

Two water views, by Andif

before the snow

Remember the photo below with the wooden swing and the spring flowers? This photo is from the same back yard at the little b&b in Newton where I stayed on Thursday night. The owner is a photographer; her brother is the sculptor of this and other works on the grounds.

I made it to my gig in Junction City today! The weather got better, instead of worse.

Sunset

Sunset from inside a house


Sunset from outside the same house

Poor babies

Crunch through the tulips.

Here today

Possibly gone tomorrow, as we are expecting snow.

Caldwell, Kansas today

One hundred and thirty years later, give or take a few, things are quieter on the trail, too.

Caldwell, Kansas

I was in this town today, very close to the Oklahoma Border. It didn't look quite like this, but I think maybe some of those buildings still stand. If I'd had this photo when I was there, I could have checked. It was a big land rush and cattle drive town, wild and woolly, as evidenced by this quote from a website called Legends of America:

"During its reckless cowtown period between 1879 and 1885, Caldwell 'boasted' a higher murder rate, and loss of more law enforcement officers than other more famous cowtowns. During this period, violence claimed the lives of 18 city marshals, leading a Wichita editor to write, "As we go to press hell is again in session in Caldwell."

My kinda town!

Map of my world

If you click this photo to enlarge it, you can probably see where I've been in the last two and a half months. Look for the dark red lines. I like this photo (taken by Joan Weaver), because it hides the middle of my body, where all the chicken fried steak has gone.

Daffy dog

Photo by Andif

Dream Weaver

This is the drum maker. . .^^^^
And here are a few of his drums. . .^^^^^

He's Jerry Weaver--architect, musician, sculptor, drum creator, and more--who is married to Joan Weaver who is, literally, a weaver, recipe inventor, wonderful cook, actress, and more, as well as being the director of the library in Kinsley, Ks. where I spoke today. You can imagine what their house looks like--a gallery of creativity.

And I? I am propped up in a lovely bedroom in a B&B, feeling contentedly full of Joan's cooking and the hospitality of this town.

Itty bitty library

I'm spending the night in an ordinary motel down the road toward my destination tomorrow, but this library I stopped at earlier today is no ordinary place.

It used to one one small room. Now it's two, but only because the cafe next door closed, and the library got the kitchen. Townspeople removed the appliances and grease, a man from town laid the new flooring, and the librarian's husband built the new bookshelves. There's a wonderful spirit here, and a love of books and reading. Kudos to librarian Connie Weber and to her smart, funny, lively patrons.

Yesterday, my mom told me about a city where the powers-that-be decided to save money by closing the libraries, but people marched in the streets to protest, and the city backed down. (Does anybody know which city? I can't recall.) Yay, people! When citizens still care about their libraries, there's hope. Not to mention, people NEED libraries more than ever these days, so they can use the computers to look for jobs, or go to check the newspapers, or rediscover the joy of free books, videos, and music.

Even in towns that are really struggling, libraries are alive. In Kansas, alone, there are approximately 330 libraries, isn't that impressive? Guess who has visited ten percent of them since January?

On the road again

To Kinsley, Hutchinson, August, Wichita, Newton, Winfield, Junction City.

Pinkrise

Variation on a pink theme, by Andif

Cafe au lait

Croissants coming right up.

wow

Photo by Andif

The M & M party continues. . .

What to do with left-over champagne? Mimosas, of course.

M & M !

Happy birthday, Maryb!

Congratulations, Maria!

Cake and champagne being served now!

Sunday brunch

Please pass the maple syrup. Does anybody ever actually use those other syrups?

Taken by an elf

To get this photo, Andi had to shrink herself down to elf-size, then lie on her back on the wet grass, and aim up. I swear.

A nice cuppa for Kelly!

You've earned it, Kelly!

beasties

Cloud and Jimmy on my mother's couch. They're sister and brother, a meow mix.

Bee-uhls

Dunno why. Just felt like seein' em. I don't remember ever seeing this photo before. Paul looks different, coo coo ka choo.

Stack of 45 rpms

Is this incredible, or what?

By Andif, of course.

Same landscape, different light

See the photo in yesterday's post. And when I saw them, they looked entirely different from any of these three. Instead of bright orange, or blinding white, or layered grey, they looked pretty and pastel in soft yellow, soft white, soft peach, and soft silver.

Sword Swallowers & Ocean Floors

(Kelly, you were right)

So when I gave my talk at the library in Oakley, Ks., they held a drawing for one of my books. It was won by a handsome white-haired gentleman who turned out to be a semi-retired sword swallower. His parents were sword swallowers, and he had grown up traveling with Ringling Bros./Barnum & Bailey, and other shows. I was, of course, entranced to hear this, and when he and his charming wife invited me to hop in their restored turquoise hot rod and have lunch with them, I jumped to say yes. When they learned I wanted to visit the Monument Rocks shown above, the sword swallower objected that I couldn't go alone, and he offered to be my guide. So that's how I happened to drive over what once was an ocean floor, in the middle of Kansas, with a nice man from the circus.

Kansas is sooo not boring!

Parrot Head Birthday Party!

Happy birthday to our very own Parrot Head, Beth!

Not March

Camp Road, by Andif

Sunrise

Photo by Andif

Waving atcha

Go two counties over from the west side of Kansas and then go two down from the top. That's where I am tonight, in the town of Colby. Tomorrow, I'll go a bit west to Goodland, where I'll spend the night, and then I'll start back east on Thursday, working my way back home through a total of nine towns and nine libraries, after also doing two yesterday nearer to home. It may sound grueling, but it's not for me, at least not yet, because I love doing this stuff. But I forgot my camera!!

This old house

Part 2, by Andif

Part 2, by you?

What elves eat

Mossy Trunk, by Andif