As my evening in Topeka ended, storm clouds gathered overhead.
I had hoped I would get lucky, and that this week the rains, snow and freezing temperatures that have plagued Kansas over the last months would yield to warmer spring weather. No such luck. As Ang, my best friend from college, informed me, strong south winds are followed by storms. Thursday morning, as I prepared to depart, the weather radar predictions showed two storm fronts coming through. Still, I thought maybe I could time my riding such that I could dodge both. At the last minute, I thought better of it and took up a friend’s offer to pick me up as she drove west.
The rains did hold off long enough for me to bike to the capital building and make an 8AM meeting at the Kansas Water Office.
Placement of statue of Kaw Warrior on top of capital building in 2002 purportedly ended an over 100 year controversy about what should be on the dome
Since 1981 this office has served as the “water planning, policy, coordinating and marketing agency” for the state. Prompted by my ride last Fall in SW Kansas, I had come to learn about how the state was responding to the Ogallala aquifer running out. However, the big news over the last few weeks has not been water running out, but water running over. When I flew in on Sunday into Kansas City, the Missouri River was well over its banks.
In all my 35 years living in and coming to Kansas, I have never seen such extensive flooding. It was a timely moment to be talking about whether Kansas would attempt to build a pipeline to transport water 500 miles uphill to stave off the loss of agriculture in the drought prone SW part of the state.
Flooding in Kansas has remained along the Missouri River. Water levels in the Kaw, along which I was riding, have been high, but still well within the banks. Although the day’s rains made me wonder how long that would remain the case.
Luckily I had no reason to ponder this further today as my friend and I traveled west to Manhattan along the interstate highway that cuts south of the Kaw. I arrived in time to attend one of my colleague’s classes at Kansas State University. This was a real delight. I thoroughly enjoyed speaking to the students, and hearing their reflections about the oddities and challenges of biking in truck country, and different Kansans’ relationship to the land. Debates about whether holding onto the family farm or creating sustainable farming practices should take precedence are live topics in their classes.
At the end of the day my best friend from college, Ang, gave me and my bike a lift down to her family’s farm in the Flint Hills.
I had hoped to get riding again the next day, but the temperatures dropped, and the precipitation continued. I woke to snow! And a 22 mph wind out of the south. For weeks I had looked forward to making it down to Chase County to see the prairie chickens on their leks. But a stiff wind and snow is not biking weather. Folks tried to rally to find an alternate plan, but ultimately I called it: Kansas wins!
It was the first time in this whole crazy project that I have not ended up where I had hoped. Yet yielding to higher forces has its own rewards. I got to spend the day in the comfort of the heated tractor barn talking to Ang’s uncle about this amazing planter he essentially built himself.
Almost nothing about it has remain unchanged. Built to plant rice in Louisiana, he widened the spaces between the planter from 9 inches to 15 and 30 inches to plant corn and soybeans in Kansas. He also added these discs.
They ensure that the seed gets tamped down and planted after being dropped out of this slot.
Dropping of seeds is controlled by air flow generated by this compressor.
Uncle D pointing to air compressor
I could go on and on. This is an ingenious machine. D also rigged up his own GPS to run his 1980s John Deere tractor.
The advantage of this is that he has the aid of the GPS, but does not have to take the tractor to a dealer to service it. Instead he works with some older mechanics who still know how to fix his model.
In the 1920s, John Deere created a steel blade that was sharp enough to cut through the virgin prairie sod, opening up millions and millions of new acreage of farmland, making a “free” life on the land possible for more farmers.
The linkage between technology, land and freedom is deep and old
Today, though, the tractor is as much an instrument of control as freedom. Partly this is the result of them becoming computers. They collect and relay data. Uncle D relayed stories of farmers trying to fight off companies who wanted to collect data about their land and farming practices as the price to pay for use of their several hundred thousand dollar machines.
Will these machines eventually take over? Signs of the loss of human communities dot these lands.
The nails are popping out of this old school, while the door hinge hangs on.
But the sun is setting on this now beautiful day.
And so such somber thoughts will have to wait for another day. It is time to head into Strong City, which indeed is a stronghold for humans in these parts.
The Ad Astra (also the state motto) is holding on, and served Ang and I a wonderful meal that ended with some of the best pie I have ever had.
En route we stopped at the Tallgrass Prairie Preserve.
It took over a half century, but finally there is one spot on this Earth where the grasses can safely raise their turkey feet to the sky.
Big Bluestem Grass has a “turkey foot” at its top
That is, until the next storm blows through …