Over the Sunday morning coffee

For the past few weeks I've been jotting down different things regarding my transition to small-town life.

And it's small-town life in a small town that a colleague of mine described as "five hours from anywhere."

Since I arrived here in late March, the most-often question I am asked by the folks from Arizona way is: "How is life in that little town?" Often followed by: "How's the weather?" (Answer--right now it is at the freezing mark, with a wind chill of 24 degrees. But the sky is beautiful clear, and it's supposed to hit the mid-70s today.)

I decided now is as good a time as any to provide the answer. I got up early this a.m., did some laundry, and am now enjoying a cup of coffee while a turkey hunting show is on the Versus channel. (I'll blog more about this subject in a different entry.)

My adjustment to this way of life continues to develop. From area-wide power outages that are caused by raccoons (according to the local paper) to church bells that toll hymns at a certain time of day, going from an urban area to a town of 3,000 is, in a word, interesting.

There is a lot of check-writing here. Geogal and I moved away from using the checkbook save for mailing off bill payments several years ago. Folks around here even write checks at restaurants. As for us, we will stick to cash and the debit card.

TV weather forecasters in Kansas use the term "east (or west) of the turnpike." Regarding severe weather so far I've drawn the long straw, as the eastern part of the state seems to have more alerts, warnings, and get-to-shelter admonishments. Some of the locals also tell me that the eastern half of Kansas tends to have more tornadoes then these parts. However the possibility of twisters still is evident. Just about all houses have basements and I already have been through my first tornado watch. (Turns out the thing hit about 35 miles south of here.)

Relaxing and reading the newspaper? Forget it. Remember when I wondered about which papers may circulate out here? Turns out none of those do. The daily periodical most available is the Salina Journal, which is not anywhere close to a thick or loaded paper. The only big-city one around here is the Omaha World-Herald, which varies in its availability (sometimes those vending machines are stocked, sometimes they're not). Speaking of which, these two only come in the racks that require change, so if all you have is the green currency you won't have newsprint on your fingers.

There are no "Ron Paul for President" signs around here. They were friggin' near ubiquitous in the Phoenix area.

You wave at people when you drive. Doesn't matter if you know them or not. And since I drive a pickup, if I encounter a truck with a male behind the wheel, that's an automatic two or three-finger wave.

On the highways, Kansas drivers tend to wave back more than the folks in Nebraska or Colorado.

That's all for now. To sum it up, I want to buy the Little Big Town song "Boondocks" from iTunes. Once you hear the lyrics, you'll understand the culture here just a little better.