APRIL 30, 2009

North Kansas City – I35 & Vernon

I lived in Kansas City for a long time – not all my life – but I will always consider Kansas City one of my homes. It has only been recently that my, what you might call love affair, with KC has begun. I’ve never thought Kansas City to be anything special – “in the middle of no-where” seemed to sum up how I felt about it most of the time. And I’ve lived in other cities where I felt something different – where I can instantly think about a park, restaurant, or sidewalk that bring back a flood of memories. But this has rarely been the cases in Kansas City  - my memories have always revolved around people.

But something has changed – maybe I’ve had one too many Boulevard wheat beers but I am becoming attached. I remember reading a memoir of woman that had this deep connection with her city – she felt apart of it, almost like it belonged to her and became jealous when others discovered its secrets. Sounds a tad bit crazy, huh? But I find this happening to myself – discovering little secrets about Kansas City and it gives me a little thrill inside. Now let’s be clear – if you were to give me a plane ticket to move somewhere with mountains or the ocean and public transportation – I would be packed by tomorrow. But today, tomorrow and the next day I am living in the land of Oz.

I have made a commitment to myself – I will pursue this love affair. I will have to be intentional and it will take extra effort but it’s worth it, right? It will be an adventure, like most love affairs are (of course, not coming from experience ), it will be filled with disappointed and unexpected twists and turns. Ohh…I am becoming giddy…