Thinking about States

I've been thinking a lot about the natures of U.S. states lately, due to the story I'm working on. I was just talking with Chance, and I remembered that, growing up, I think we were taught to be Kansans before we were taught to be Americans. We learned Kansas history in grade school, but no U.S. history until high school. If you grow up in a place like Massachusetts, I'm told you learn U.S. history basically at the same time. Which makes sense.

But Kansas history doesn't really start until the Civil War. It involves a lot of really crazy people, like John Brown and Quantrill's Raiders. One of this first things we learn is how Kansas was shaped by the bloody Civil War. Jayhawkers are not funny looking birds, as portrayed by our college team mascot. Jayhawkers were raiders that attacked the Southern state of Missouri.

Another thing, while I'm talking about it. If you haven't been to the part of Kansas that I'm from, you might imagine Kansas as a great flat place covered in wheat. Where I grew up, things are very green. There's not a lot of farming, and we have rolling hills generally covered in trees. Kansas is a very verdant place, in my mind. I know what the western part looks like, but it's not generally what I think of when I imagine the state.

I also picture dark damp roads on a summer night, cicadas singing so loud you can hear them over the radio. But that's another blog entry.