day 4

Corona virus.  people in kansas seem much like tennessee.  i've been keeping to myself, of course, so i'm really not meeting anyone.  it's tough in this weather, because i would like to go inside, sit down and warm up.  but i can't.

it was 30 miles before i even saw a store today.  little country place that you might not have even known was open if you didn't look hard.  old abandoned  gas station at the cross roads.  the pumps closed, service bays were storage.  inside was a clerk, no face mask or shield at the register, bathrooms were open, 3 tables in the back, but all very clean.  not a single face mask to be seen.

10 miles down the road was a rest area, historical marker.  toilets were open, everything was very clean.  didn't touch a thing except a door pull and that was with a single, gloved finger.

and now i'm camping in a city park, having not seen or talked to a soul.  ness city, about 120 mi. from colorado.

guess i finally reached the plains.  flat as a table top, horizon as far as you can.  pretty incredible vistas in 360 degrees.  the colors are deep umbras of tilled soil; straw tans of old grass; pale, muted greens of newer grass.  the sky has been a blanket of gray all day, with washes of light streaked through.

i've been roughly following the route of the old santa fe trail.  it's challenging to try to see through their eyes, moving 15-20 miles a day in a wagon or walking beside.  i passed a sign for "bohemian national cemetary" pointing down a dirt road.  imagine coming from chechslovakia and finding yourself here.  and what caused them to stop?  as mcmurtry said, did they brake down, loose ambition or what?  and did they know about winter?

speaking of weather, the house designs here are so lacking in response to the wind.  what the early european settlers did made a lot of sense:  dig into the side of the hill and bunker down.  but once they had the resources to abandon sod, seems like they abandoned common sense, as well.  back to what they knew, but they didn't respond to the plains.  wind. this place is defined by the wind, among other things.

         energy:  old wind, old wind supported by solar, new wind

i'm wondering if that isn't part of what's behind the conical shape of the tepee.  other factors, as well, but the fact that the cone is accommodating to the changing wind directions makes it ideally suitable.

btw, if you're wondering where the pictures are, i'm having technical difficulties.  can't seem to get my phone to sync with wi-fi, so i can't upload photos.  sorry, i know the photos are worth more than my words.