Perpetual Slant

Everything out here has a perpetual slant. Nothing stands up straight and how could it after having been beaten by 50 mile an hour winds a few times a week. Tree tops, that have been lucky enough to grow taller than 8 feet, are slanted at 60 degree angles so you can really see which direction the wind normally blows. From the North, if you were curious. People also seem to have a perpetual stoop. Most are old and hunched over. You can really see what old age does to the body out here. Skin gets dry and wrinkly real fast and your hair turns to straw after a few cold and windy days. God that wind just never stops. It takes your breath away. You fight against the force to open the car door or the house door and instantly you can't breathe. You open your mouth because the nose just isn't working and its greeted with a sandy snack, which you didn't really want. The sand gets in everything. Creases of your pants and creases of your skin. Who knew there were sand spurs in Kansas? All the signs of a beach minus the beauty. Well, there is some beauty. The sky is huge. I swear its bigger than back home. You can stand by the side of the road and scan the horizon in 360 wide degrees. The tall prairie grass blows in one bent-over direction and makes this loud rustling sound. Birds fly in huge flocks and sometimes you're lucky enough to watch them all take off from a tree at once. The noise is deafening and often startles the dog, cat, and me.  There is never an absence of noise at our place. You get gun shots from the firing range up the road and hound dog howls from the farm down the street. The wind is never quiet, carrying sounds from far away to our front door, and makes haunting sounds that make me feel lonely. On a rare winter day when the sun shines through the gray clouds, I feel like taking off all my clothes and lying in the yard to soak up the happy little rays, even though I'd freeze, because somehow it can be 30 degrees and sunny outside. When we get them, sunsets are the best. So many colors for so many miles. You get the full spectrum rainbow effect out here. Early morning sunrises are equally beautiful through our little kitchen window. The morning light hits the brown, shabby grass and makes it pretty for a few hours in the red, yellow, and purple sunrise. The sun sets literally at the end of our driveway and passes right through the middle of two scraggly cottonwood (or elm?) trees which is quite a beautiful sight as well. Makes you feel alive for sure, but even in the beauty of nature, I feel a strange sense of contented sadness. Sad the day is over, sad I have no one down the street to run and play with, but content at my situation. Content where I am.

So, we'll see where this blog goes. Hopefully I can keep up. I have super spotty connection to the internet and mainly I spend what little money I have on 12 oz. Americanos which make me feel jumpy and ready to tackle the amount of job applications waiting out there for me on the internet. Which is good, because Dear Lord: I Need A Job Now. My day consists of getting up around 9 or 10 and watching the Rachel Ray and then the Martha Stewart show/ The View, whichever is less boring. Then, I make lunch and take it to Drew followed by a few hours at the Christian coffee shop down the street. Usually after that I run to the grocery store and then the liquor store (because they can't sell alcohol at the grocery store out here... what the hell) and then home to watch Food Network. I have watched every episode of Paula Deen, Giada at Home/Everyday Italian, Barefoot Contessa, and 30 minute meals. Usually Drew comes home in the middle of 30 min. meals and tells me to get Rachel Ray off the screen and I'm usually ok with that. Then we watch the news and find out how many depressing things happened in the world followed by whatever popular crap shows are on TV (no more Conan... sad) and then maybe smoke the Hookah. By this point, we're probably a little "hooty" from the wine or beer I picked up and we're ready for bed. I'm hopeful things will get a little more exciting. Stay tuned and we'll see together!