All Things Corn

And nature. And Kansas history. And mooning.

Summer Tanager at Chaplin Nature Center near Ark City

a 39- star flag used to stake a claim in the Cherokee Strip Land Rush

Supermoon July 2014

7-7-14:  Sometimes at work we meet the most interesting folks.  Today we met a Dreamliner (787) pilot.  David asked him if he accidentally landed at Jabara recently. LOL. He assured us that wasn't him.

captive audience?

Got this pic from Emily today.  It's Gus strumming a tune for baby Ava!

Spring Creek

7-9-14:  We took a little daytrip down to Arkansas City today with Greg and Linda Sue.  First we visited the Chaplin Nature Center.  The center itself is interesting, tho much smaller than the one here in Wichita.  We took a short hike down to the Arkansas River.  It almost looked clear!  Most of the rivers we see here in KS are pretty muddy.  So this was a welcome treat for us.  Because of an abundance of rain this year, the river was flowing nicely.

One of the prairies near the river -- Giant Sunflower patch 

Greg, Linda Sue, and me on the sandbar

Even walking on the sandbar was decent exercise for the ankles.  Didn't seem to be any quicksand anywhere like I always hear about on the Red River sandbars down south.

Arkansas (Our-Kansas) River west of Ark City

David's panorama looking upstream

some trees that drifted downstream

#davidlovesselfies

Watched a mama turkey and her baby scurry out from behind the nature center as we approached.  The baby headed for an overhead limb.  It flew away before we could get any pix, but that was neat to see. Enjoyed a bit of a breeze on the balcony of the nature center and caught sight of the hen again as she grazed.

looking for Stephen King

Stopped at one of the cornfields as we headed out of the nature center area. When the breeze blows through the stalks it sounds like someone or something is headed your way.  The corn in Kansas is really looking tall and green right now.  Hoping we're still here "come harvest."

Stalkers

I posted the above pic on fb (thx for the shot, Linda Sue).  Loved the replies: corny, American Gothic, stalkers, Grandparents of the Corn, where's your pitchfork, etc, etc. 

Greg and Linda Sue wanted to be corny, too

Carolyn Jackson in Texarkana gave me some interesting info about work in the cornfields.  Her grandsons do some summer work in MI "detasseling" corn.  Detasseling is removing the top or the pollinating tassel of the corn plant to cross-pollinate for the following year's corn seed.  Certain rows are detasseled so it will be pollinated by rows of tasseled corn of different varieties to create hybrid corn. Teenagers in Michigan, Indiana, and Iowa work for contractors who hire them to detassel during summer months.  It's hot, dirty, tiring work, but pays well and sounds like a great learning experience!

Cherokee Strip Land Rush Museum, Arkansas City, KS

David found a fun little diner in Ark City called Daisy Mae's.  We stopped there for a sandwich, peanut butter pie, then moved on to the Cherokee Strip Land Rush Museum.  I know very little about this piece of history other than David's great-grandfather Rife participated.  We'd like more info on his involvment.  We really enjoyed this museum.  The Land Rush was crazy!!  Not only were the Native Americans, once again, pushed out of their land, but the people trying to stake out claims went through something like today's Black Friday on crack!  Many camped out ahead of time so they'd be there when the starting pistol fired.  Even more folks -- the Sooners -- went out ahead of the legal starting time and claimed their land. And defended it fiercely. The Rush began near the southern border of Kansas and continued into northern OK.

surveying equipment

the folks camping out before the Rush begins

in many cases it was a family affair

once the starter pistol fired, off they went to stake a claim

Ark City back in the day

These nails with numbers on the head were pounded in the upper end of railroad ties. They indicated the date the tie was laid. Numbering railroad ties started in 1901. 

antique corn sheller -- it shucked the whole cob and later the farmer had to separate thecorn from the pieces of cob 

teletype machine

Once again, many were displaced

One of the chiefs

pedal-driven sharpening stone

this pretty guy met us outside the old school -- I think he expected us to feed him --- or he was school security

David and I found a huge earthworm outside the school, which David tossed to the chickens and rooster.  They devoured it!

think I'll rest a sec

sign? what sign?

cool old globe

lillypads on the pond

Bland Schoolhouse

this sign is taller than Linda Sue thought!

Fun to learn some more about David's home state of Kansas!  And always great to be with Greg and Linda Sue.  They are a fountain of info.  And always game for a good time!

Exploration Place Science and Discovery Center on the West Bank 

7-10-14:  Lovely night on the River Walk in Wichita with my fella and my dog.  Cool breeze, gorgeous sunset, ring of fire, and a shiny moon -- the start of July's Supermoon.

went down to the River Walk to see the lighting of the "Ring of Fire" that surrounds the Keeper of the Plains statue. Weather permitting, the ring is lit every night at 9 for 15 minutes

Don't Spit on the Sidewalk

The River Walk has so many great memorials and signs along the way.  This little sign, tho comical, is a great piece of history.  Dr. Samuel Crumbine - said to be the model for the dr on Gunsmoke - began a couple of campaigns to fight TB.  One was to replace drinking cups on trains with paper cups.  The other was to encourage brick makers to imprint "Don't Spit of the Sidewalk" into their bricks, which were shipped out all over the country.  Good ole Doc Sam also invented the flyswatter while serving on the Kansas State Board of Health.  He encouraged the public to swat flies to prevent the spread of disease!

Downstream shot of the 1st street bridge over the Arkansas River.

The Keeper of the Plains is in the center near the sunset

Yellow Crowned Night Heron fishing along the bank.

The ring is just starting to burn in this shot.

The Keeper of the Plains is a 44 ft tall steel sculpture created by Black Bear Bosin.  It stands at the confluence of the Arkansas and Little Arkansas Rivers in Wichita

Keeper of the Plains & the Pedestrian Bridge over the Arkansas River - and
several herons doing some fishing.

Where the Little Arkansas River meets the big one.

Pedestrian Bridge over the Little Arkansas River. The weather was perfect and there were lot's of people out this evening.

Black Crowned Night Heron

Romantic summer night!

Gettin' corny

7-12-14:  Found a Gaeddert's sweet corn stand today.  Linda Sue was just telling us about how great this corn is.  Got a dozen, shared a little, cooked a little, and stuck some aside for our upcoming camping trip. She wasn't kidding!  YUM!  These ears still had the tassels.  I noticed the guy working there, kinda spread the tassels and looked inside as he was counting them out for me.  So I asked some questions.  He said one thing he does is to make sure the tassel is still there.  If it's not, that's a good signs worms have gotten to it.  He also checks to see that the corn is mature and not mushy (another sign of worms).  I tried the microwave version of cooking it that I'd seen posted on facebook.  So simple.  After cooking for 4-5 minutes, you can slide the shuck off very easily.  And the corn is TASTY!!

love the color of a rising moon

Supermoon from our campground

Gotta love a Supermoon.  Wise that the Native Americans named the moons so they could keep up with what season it was: Wolf Moon, Hunter's Moon, Strawberry Moon, Harvest Moon, also known as CORN MOON.  And of course many, many others.

We refer to the full moon that is very close to earth in proximity as the Supermoon.  Hope you enjoyed July's Supermoon wherever you are!

Much Love,

Moe, Larry, and Curly (Super Cornballs)

A Flatland 4th

Linda Sue is really a mermaid!  (I thought so!)

Another hs reunion! Our coworker, Debbie Kelley Curtis, graduated with David!

Look who popped in at Air Capital -- our friend, Donna, from JCRV!

Gus sent me this great pic of him and Papaw Goff - love those 2 cowboys!

storms moving in to Wichita

we were lucky that they stayed north of us - and weren't nearly as fierce as they looked

Boss Man Frank got a smart phone! 

We keep expecting things to heat up for the summer.  But so far it's great!  80's and low 90's. I could live here!  We had a Panties, Pix, Pie day at Greg and Linda Sue's in June. Enjoyed looking at their vacay pix from the last 2 trips they took, played cards (Panties), and chowed down on some of my mom's peanut butter pie. We have a couple of hands to finish, but the girls are a little ahead.

#davidlovessselfies

7-2-14: David and I visited the Nifty Nuthouse in downtown Wichita today per Linda Sue's recommendation.  Wow!  Just, wow!  One could easily spend an hour or more here. They have every kind of nut and candy you can imagine.  They are kinda known for their double-dipped maltballs.  YUM!  And they'll give you a taste of anything in the store.

this shop has 2 huge rooms full of candy/nuts

you can even watch it being made -- except this guy was doing a little cleaning up I think

it was really hard to narrow it down 

fun employees -- of course they are sugared up!  the guy in the red shirt photobombed the photobombers!
These girls couldn't believe I knew what photobombing meant.  I explained to them that I'm very cool and they, of course, agreed

We had "brunch" at Doo-Dah Diner after the candy store

After the candy store -- maybe we did this in the wrong order, but oh well -- we went to lunch at Doo-Dah Diner downtown.  It's a yummy little greasy spoon.  And I mean you can smell the grease when ya walk in the door.  I think if we go back we'll do breakfast instead of lunch.  Tho, I enjoyed my blta (avacado) sandwich.  Very fresh and tasty.

It's an old, greasy spoon 

The sign over the bar explains why Wichita is called Doo-Dah

We drove through Watson Park and saw hundreds of geese grazing through the blooming poppy mallow

It's been a couple of years since we've been through O.J. Watson park.  It's changed a bit but is very green and pretty.  It still has the pony rides and the mini train ride which our kids did when they were little.  I see a possible grandson day coming up at Watson Park!

The June magazine, Wichita, clears this up

some Shocker pride rolling thru town

finished the boys' alpaca hats -- just in time for the 4th of July

7-4-14:  Doug, Sheila, Heather invited the family out to their cabin on Santa Fe Lake for the 4th.  It was wonderful spending time with kinfolk, catching up, relaxing under the trees, and of course, there was plenty of food involved.  The plan was to watch fireworks that evening.  I guess some of the neighbors do it up pretty big.  But since it doesn't get dark til 9:00 ish, the party broke up just before dusk.  Getting too near bedtime for some of us. The temps today were heavenly!  Almost cool at times. Hard to believe July could be so pleasant.....but we'll take it!

 Doug taking us on an excursion down the Indianola Creek

Doug, me, Asher, Andrew, and Justin

Eagles' nest - nobody home

Justin and the boys trying to catch sticks

Rocky sooo wanted to take a swim & fetch one of their sticks

Love this pic -- just wish Doug hadn't been in the way

Asher and I have the greatest conversations! 

lotta cottonwood on top of the water

Andrew lighting up a smoke bomb

oh, the excitement!

chillaxin with Doug, Sheila, Heather, Linda Sue, Greg, me, and Justin

Uncle Doug giving Asher a little technical advice

Asher found a little caterpillar

the caterpillar trumped the fireworks

It liked Andrew's nose

what caterpillar?

Sheila, me, Linda Sue, and Heather Louise

Got home this evening and we were both so sleepy.  Got into my pj's fully expecting to go to bed.  I was hearing so many fireworks I decided to step outside to see what I could see.  My goodness!  Because it's the flatland, I could see fireworks shows all around me for miles and miles.  I've always loved a night sky in Kansas and tonight I enjoyed watching it light up for about an hour or so!  It was still going when I finally gave up. I think I liked this "show" as well as any fireworks show I've ever seen -- and didn't have to contend with traffic or heat for it.  That little heavenly breeze was still going.

the prairie sunflowers are really coming out now at the rv park

aiming at the sun

Rocky keeping an eye on the doings here at the park

Joseph Alexander Goff -- nearly 9 lbs of cuteness

7-6-14:  And today we have a new Goff!  I feel a poem coming on...........

James and Joseph -- 2 CUTIE PIES!!

He almost made it on Grandpa Bill Boy's bday -- July 5th.  But I guess he decided he wanted his own special day, so he waited til the 6th.

Looking forward to a few extra days off "work" and a camping trip with the grandsons!  Hoping the summer heat will stay away a little longer!

Feeling the Love, Peace, and Freedom,

John, Abigail, and John Quincy