Life — New Blog — Under The Flyover Sky

I was in my parent’s yard the other morning when this bumble bee caught my eye. It was one of the first cool mornings of the season, and this little bee was moving awfully slow. The sun was playing peek-a-boo through the clouds, and the winds were exceptionally gusty, so it wasn’t warming as quickly as we’ve been accustomed. Nevertheless, the bee clung to its Russian sage as it whipped in the breeze all the while trying to do the job it was called to do. I admired its persistence and beauty but had to be a little persistent myself to capture the fuzzy creature in the windy conditions. It wasn’t until I got home and got the pictures up on a larger screen that I noticed the poor bee had a battle scar. It was missing part of its right antenna.

How often do we feel like that little bee? We’ve put in countless hours doing our life work whether by calling or out of necessity. Sometimes we feel we’re moving a little slow from our struggles and while we may not be missing an actual piece of antenna, we feel broken under the strains of life. More often than not, our efforts seemingly go unnoticed and we wonder if it even matters. How do we fit into the big picture?

I’m here to remind you that it does matter and so do you. Sometimes our rewards won’t be seen in this life but the next and that too requires grit and persistence. We might not know how a seemingly small, ordinary action made all the difference to someone who crossed paths with us at the exact moment it was needed. Keep on keeping on, just like that bee and thanks for making this world a better place. You matter.

It is ironic, that as I type this first post for “Under the Flyover Sky”, I’m leaving my beloved High Plains, the place this has inspired these musings. I woke long before the sun to catch the first flight out a small regional airport in southwest Kansas. Several contemporaries and I are heading to an agriculture conference in Milwaukee. It should be a great time of learning and fellowship but also of inspiration, to be reinvigorated to continue to serve the rural communities we dearly love.

It was a peaceful 25 minute drive this morning on this 15th day of March. The land is just starting to thaw from an exceptionally long winter and the smell of earth awaking was a welcome scent as I passed miles of twinkling lights on the prairie. Those lights might not seem like much to someone from outside the area, but each of those lights represents a person, a family, who like me, choose to be rural. The prairie people are a hardy bunch. A culture who knows the value hard work, ingenuity, family, community, and faith. We are not all the backward bunch that the media so often portrays, and our land of open spaces and sky is beautiful in its own right, also different from the stereotypes. We have problems, no place is immune. No place. However, so much good happens out here in the middle if one just wants to see it. I learned long ago in my travels that a person can find good and beauty anywhere, it is all about perspective.

Except for four short years in the piney woods of the south, I have spent my entire life some place on the prairie. I attempted to leave once after college, but the company I then worked for saw the value in placing me back with the grass and wind and I obliged. With the exception of travel, a passion of mine, I have never permanently left again. Kansas continues to be my home.

The sunrise is beautiful this morning. The deep orange gives way to yellow then deep blue sky as night tries to hang on just a little longer. It is beautiful moments like this I write. It is for the people that I write. To share what so few get to see. I have plans for this site, not unlike any eager, new blogger. Some posts may be serious, others funny, informative, and everything in between. I may hammer out back-to-back posts or time may pass between inspiration. Thanks for following along. I know you will find something that resonates with you “Under the Flyover Sky.”

Flying out of regional airports are the best with their friendly service, short lines, and free parking!

The wind tetrahedron. Apparently they’re rare these days.

The view of flyover country. Simply beautiful.

Less the window crack, the view of the sunrise was fantastic!