Where The Wind Blows

Over the Memorial Day holiday, I took my second trip in May.  Youngest and I loaded up the two grand-girls and traveled back to my hometown to celebrate Favorite Aunt’s 90^th birthday.

My siblings came in from all their respective places…Kansas, California, Nevada…and we had a few days of eating and visiting and keeping each other humble.

The Grand-girls had a fine time at the parade, on which day I left my fancy smancy camera back where we were staying….30 miles away.  (Seriously…I did….but better the camera than one of the grandbebes, I say.) The Memorial Day/Class Reunion parade is a typical (very) small town parade consisting of flags, horseriders, a few farm implements, old firetrucks, some motorcycles, and a few little ‘clown cars’.  It lasted maybe 20 minutes…maybe.  But there was candy!  Woot!

We received a personal tour of the new hospital from my BFF, and it really is a pretty spiffy concept.  All green and full of energy saving and other good ideas.  Like free child care and free something else…maybe meals for the employees?

Main Street has been rebuilt and there are several (7-8, maybe 9) business now.  There is a new city hall, a commons building, and the new Kiowa County school that looks very nice.  I am thinking all the churches are back, too.  It’s a church-y town.

There are still lots of empty lots.  Many homes were not rebuilt.  There are new trees planted, but I missed the big towering trees that were topped by the tornado.

The day of the parade was overcast, but the next day dawned cloudless.  Then the wind picked up, and by 10:30, I was thinking the sun felt good, but my! It’s a bit warm.  On the way back to the room, Youngest said the outside air temp read 102.  Yes.  A bit warm.

And the wind was crazy blowing.  Blew all day.  Strongly, and didn’t let up in the evening.

And that is why the powers that be figured out these are a good idea for this part of the country.  There are now several in town, bigger ones supplying a business (like the hospital), and smaller ones providing for residentials, and then this line outside of town, which I think either the town or the county own.

We returned home on Memorial Day, after a trip to the cemetery, wind still blowing.

It blew All. The. Way. Home.

But.  The weird thing?  I fought it as a crosswind across Kansas south to north….and when I headed north out of Denver?  I fought a crosswind all the way home, west to east!

No breaks for me.