Hey, Mr. Tambourine Man,
play a song for me
I'm not sleepy
and there ain't no place I'm goin' to
Hey, Mr. Tambourine Man,
play a song for me
In the jingle jangle morning,
I'll come followin' you
Take me for a trip upon
your magic swirling ship
All my senses have been stripped
And my hands can't feel to grip
And my toes too numb to step
Wait only for my boot heels to be wanderin'
I'm ready to go anywhere,
I'm ready for to fade
Unto my own parade
Cast your dancing spell my way
I promise to go under it
Where US 160 jogs at the state line, looking West toward Walsh, Colorado, I betcha.
A buddy refers to that area of Western Kansas/Eastern Colorado as a “hellscape.”
One of the characters in Anton Myrer’s Once an Eagle said, “The great plains, they are tedious, no?” or words to that affect.
I’ve never quite agreed with those assessments. That big empty of Western Kansas/Oklahoma has a charm all its own. Lunch in the town cafe: Hamburger on a grilled bun with slice of American cheese, a couple pickles, slice of onion, might or might not have lettuce and tomato, hand cut fries, a grease that seems particular to that area and a Coke in a plastic glass, maybe Dr. Pepper. A combination unobtainable anywhere else; a lost art.
Quite possibly – I don’t recall off-hand. 160’s a road I’d have taken east out of Trinidad. And I agree with your assessment. Someday “the people” will discover this region. After all, the mountains were once a region to be feared. So were the deserts (and they still are but for different reasons these days). If I were smarter and young enough to have several decades ahead of me, I’d be buying land there to live.
A buddy farms a bit north of there at Dighton. He becomes claustrophobic anywhere there are trees. Water, or the lack thereof in the form of the steadily depleting Ogallala Aquafer, will likely defend that area from invasion by the urban-centric carbon-based units infesting the planet with swimming pools and data centers for the foreseeable future. The Arkansas River ran dry in western Kansas years ago.
20+ years ago I was traveling through Dighton during a snow storm. Stopped at the gas station to fill up and wind was blowing snow everywhere. A local at the gas station said the highway would likely be closed and that I should stay with his family for the night. I did. I slept in the basement and they cooked me breakfast the next morning. Snow plows cleared the high way and I was off. Nice folks there.
“That big empty of Western Kansas/Oklahoma has a charm all its own.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g310GZiNrgY&list=RDg310GZiNrgY&start_radio=1
Ultimately we are having a conversation about the “Long View”. It there is a mountain, or a tree, or some other perpendicular object is the impact on the viewer the same as if there is nothing out there–the prairie? Does the pleasure arrive from solitude, or is it something else, something more primordial? (You can see the bad guys coming). If you know of any solid psychiatric research that has been done on this phenomenon please send it along. I am not an environmentalist per se, but I do believe in maintaining agriculture lands. I also believe that the “long view” is something we should be have a conversation about as to the contribution it makes to the human psyche.
Grain silos on the horizon in the direction of the trail track. Likely full of milo which is a commonly grown grain in Kansas. Used for cow feed. I think also used for lower grade vodka. The grain heads are either rust or tan colored. The plentiful pheasant in the area eat that also.