#16, Kansas KS (Been There)

If there was an exciting part of Kansas to be seen it would probably be all the cows, fields, and water irrigation circles. Mind you, the only reason we made it to Kansas was to visit my wife's sister but that provided enough entertainment to make up for the rest of the state, though most of iti's as flat as a pancake. I remember driving through the state and could see the lights for the town in the distance but it still took three or four hours to finally come into town.

I was a cowboy for a day

We visited family in Garden City, Kansas several times in our early years of marriage. The first time we drove out there was in our X-11 hatchback where our little guy could sleep while we travelled at night. We took turns being with him in the back. While that would be considered child abuse and illegal today we were always quite careful with our children just as parents tend to be. I think that the world has gone bonkers over issues like this, and it is absolutely hypocritical to put children in car seats until they are teenagers to "protect" then all the while allowing the murder of babies before and after they are born. I don't care who you are, that is just not right. But I digress.

On one of those times I was asked by my brother-in-law if I wanted to go with him on horses to another field where we would roundup over a hundred cows. I had already snagged a free oil change certificate I had planned to use on that day but I didn't know if I'd have another chance to go on a cowboy roundup so I joined him for the day. We were each walking our horses to the gate when my horse nuzzled his horse's hind end, and his horse to decided to send my horse a message with a swift and powerful kick. Except I was in the way and I was dealt a near death blow in the groin. Well it may not have been quite that life threatening but I was on the ground writhing in pain. Just another day in Kansas. I had ridden horses before but they were always trained to stay on the path our group was riding. This horse would go where you want and so we encouraged most all the cows down the path to the corral. There were four or five really ornery cows that absolutely refused to along with the program so we left them there and hurried after the group who understood the assignment. That lead to my horse deciding to have a little fun with the newby on his back and gallop toward the fence. I thought she was going to leap over the fence with me and her going in different directions but she stopped on a dime just in front of the fence with me desperately hanging on her neck. She was fine after that but she probably had a laugh with the other horses when she got back to the barn. But that day made the highlight reel for me.

And then there was the time I tried shooting a shotgun for the first time. I was focusing for a long time as the image in the scope moved around too fast and I kept getting the scope closer to my face to see better. When I pulled the trigger I asked my brother-in-law if I hit the target. His face went white as he gave me a rag to clean my forhead. When I rubbed it and pulled a flap of skin down revealing my skull he about fainted. This was probably one of those times where I should have gone to the hospital and had stitches but instead I cleaned it up and put a few bandaids over the flap and pulling it in to place. It healed very nicely and the scar is nearly invisible to this day, seen only at extreme close up.

Until next time,

Arktander
(aka David Andreasen)