It's Day 324.....it's also March 25th 2020...and we are in Osborne Kansas

It's Day 324.....it's also March 25th 2020...and we are in Osborne Kansas

Wherever you may be this evening…sitting on your front porch, your back deck, the kitchen table, a desk at work.... or in the middle of a small town....in Kansas, surrounded by hay fields...just .like we are...I hope you are exactly where you wanna be.....and doing what you wanna be doing...just like we are....

Around every bend in the road.....yet another example of the beauty of this country.... I think I stopped being surprised quite a while back......I'd find myself so often wondering how it could possibly get any better…and then it always did....

But....not so much .... better.....…just another version of awesome. ....it's most always that way.....the first time you see something I think...

Vacilando has served the boys and I well…transporting us into Kansas this morning from Oklahoma marks the 23rd state we have traversed in the last 10 months…as of our last fill up....we've racked up 12, 267 miles. And as I was adding up the miles…I was struck with two notions simultaneously. First, wow…we’ve seen a lot. And at the same time…what haven’t we seen?

Mostly.....I love the randomness of it all....how the universe just seems to put things together.....like today...

Heading west on Highway 51 out of Glencoe.....The rolling hills and open fields.......the occassional patch of green signaling spring is just around the corner.....

We didn't get far before merging onto I-35 North towards Kansas......and given that interstates really aren't our thing......as soon as we got into Kansas....and past Witchita.....we started looking for our exit.....and found it.... on Kansas Highway 24 West......

And drove deeper into Americas heartland.

The wide open of the wheat fields fields....transitioning to corn and back to wheat.....and occassional wooded areas began to give way to the occassional small town.....Farmers atop their tractors prepping the fields for planting...as you pass thru towns like....Hoxie....Hill City...Stockton...Menlo....Morland...Cawker City (Home of the worlds largest ball of twine)....Downs....and Beloit.

And more randomness........turning here and there....picking two lane roads on a whim......continuing to watch the plains....and those rolling hills...pass from the windshield to the rearview.....

.....and bam.....“Osborne 22 miles” complete with arrow pointing right.

And you really don't even have to think before hitting the turn signal when you see your name on a sign.....you have to trek that 22 miles for a look. Along that 22 mile drive.....contemplating..... that your name......is also someone elses....and has been....for a really long time....way longer than you've had it.

These Osbornes....over here in Kansas.....well....first of all...It's pronounced .... Osburn .....here in these parts.

A region of the country that is literally....a tale....as old as time......a tale that we've read over and over....from coast to coast....and here in the heartland...little changes.....except maybe..... the players.....

Here...I'd read of the Cheyenne.....and the Sioux people. Nomadic tribes that followed the Buffalo across the region from season to season.......Spanish explorers would wander through in the mid 1500's...with the French not far behind them.

As the British entered the stage....a small band of a new breed...a new culture....primarily British....mixed with Scottish and Irish that were along for the ride.....and over time....Germans....Dutch folks....French.....all sorts had joined the pursuit of a life in a new world......and fighting.....for their own identity....and soverienty in this new world.....in time.....they'd begin calling themselves .... Americans......and mark the beginning.....

Of The indian wars........And like everywhere else across the young country....battles hard fought in this region. The Sioux...Cheyenne....Osage....Pawnee.....and Kanza people....fought hard....stalling off surveying efforts and settlement for years......but in the end....the railway....or iron horse made it's way to Osburn.... and quickly marking the end.....of the Native American lifestyle on the plains of North America. Many would be forced to cede millions of acres and be relegated to reservations in the area.....just as many would find themselves on the Trail of Tears....headed to a place called The new Indian territory..... Oklahoma.

Kansas itself would be admitted to the union as the 34th state in 1861....just months before the start of the civil war.....planting itself firmly on the union side of things.

Shortly after the end of the civil war.....a group of folks some 1200 miles away....in Pennsylvania would form....The Pennsylvania Colony. The group of some 67....had found themselves victims of a post war economy.....and with land grants being issued out west.....they'd set out in 1868 ... in search of their future. Over half of the men in the original Pennsylvania colony were civil war veterans.....providing a shared goal....and sense of commoradory...... as they set out on their adventure.....

A good deal of the trek would be made by railway.... landing them in a place called Walterville Kansas.... where the colony would spend a couple weeks forming a wagon train.....which is how they would trek the final 125 miles...and discovering Osburn....3 years would pass between when the original colony members set out.....but by 1871....over 250 colony members had found their way to the fertile soils and natural abundance of Osburn....and this corner of Kansas.

Osburn City would be founded....and named for Vincent B. Osborne, a Union Army veteran..... and officially incorporated in 1878.

And so interesting to me.....to learn yet again.....how different perspectives can be. During the 90's I had worked for a company whose corporate headquarters were in Witchita Kansas....so I've been to Kansas....many times. But I never saw "This" Kansas. I'd hear jokes about how flat....and boring Kansas is. Flat as a pancake....or....you can watch your dog runaway for days in Kansas.

But 150 years ago.......a group of pioneers came across Kansas.....and saw nothing but opportunity. The wide open spaces....fertile soils....and ample water supplies meant struggles could maybe end....and more importantly..... dreams could maybe come true....

It certainly wasn't easy....nothing worth anything ever is I spose.....They'd have to endure the constant attempts by the native americans to take back their land.....seems they had the same affinity for this place called Kansas....and weren't going to give up without a fight.

They'd also have to endure the characteristics of a continental climate.....hot summers....and cold winters. Hottest temperature on Record in Osburn....116 degree's.....Arizona's got nuthin on these folks.......coldest temperature on record....-31 degree's.

But they'd make it through all that.....to become what Osburn is today. A town of 1300...on the south fork of the Soloman River..... in the heart of America....literally.....34 miles away from Osburn....is a place called lebanon Kansas.....which is the geographic center of the United States.....you really cannot get much deeper into the heart of these United States.....than where we are sitting right now.

I'd also read that Osburns Town center is just a few degrees north.... of the North American Geodetic Center.......Now having no clue what that meant......the internet explained that The North American Geodetic Center is a key reference point used for surveying and mapping the continent. It serves as the primary station for all North American surveys. This point, established in 1901 by the U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey, and is essential for creating accurate maps and coordinates across the United States, Canada, and Mexico.

I had just learned.....that in the world of surveying and map-making in the United States, Osburn, Kansas.....exactly where we are sitting tonight..... is quite literally where the mapping universe begins.

Pretty Cool!

I'd also learn that Osburn is considered a nature lovers paradise........The abundance of antelope and elk make these north central mountains of Kansas a popular destination for hunters as well.

I also watched a local PBS special highlighting the towns focus on putting together just the right blend of agriculture....and industrialization.....the towns got it's own industrial park in which they offer free land for companies willing to move to....and contribute to the towns future. And fold in the strong sense of community....over a dozen local businesses....and looks like you've got yourself a pretty cool little slice of small town America.

And Osburn is also home to multiple buildings listed on the National Register of Historic buildings....but one stuck out for me. Having just learned of the Carnegie Family presence on Cumberland Island....in Georgia....I was surprised to see the name here....in Osburn.

The osburn-carnegie public library. Andrew Carnegie....the wealthy industrialist....and the name you'll find splashed all across New York.....was also a man....I'd learn..... with a lifelong passion for education....and making knowledge accessible....to anyone that wanted it. One his many philanthropic ventures.......donating over 50 million bucks through out his life to funding over 2500 public libraries across the country. And one of those libraries....right here in Osburn.

In 1912, Dr. Henshall, the mayor of Osborne at the time, wrote to Andrew Carnegie requesting funds for a library building. Carnegie approved a gift of $6,000 for the project. Construction would begin later that year...., and the library opened on July 11, 1913....and for the next 82 years the libary remained open to the public. The Library remains open to the public to this day.....but now functions as a regional history and genealogical library managed by the Osburn County Genealogical and Historical Society.

Some pretty cool stuff...and a ton of history packed into a place called Osburn Kansas.

This place...has been.....and still is....a lot of things.......and..... it's also the sorta place.....where homecoming each year....is still a big deal....we're talking parade..... sorta big deal

It's also the sorta place that watches out for their own.....and celebrates successes....big and small. Like....what I saw on an evening news clip....... in which one of Osburns own.....graduated high school here in town....went on to Kansas state......then he took his love of basketball out into the world and found his way to the head coach position in WV...and every time he ends up back in Kansas...playing against his own hometown team....Osburn still...in a way....finds itself rooting for the hometown kid....seems thats what they do here.....

We're gonna fall asleep tonight amidst the corn, and hay fields of Osburn Kansas.....the three of us tucked inside Vacilando listening to the birds chatter away the evening amidst the barking of the ranch dogs in the distance....

Knowing we'll probably wake up tomorrow....to the same thing.

And yea....pandemic....still messin things up.....it's here too...in Osburn. A walk this evening showed us most everything in town shut down.....gas station was the only thing we saw open.....so doesn't seem much visiting will take place here.....

So....we'll quietly continue our trek west......wondering where we'll pull off to sleep tomorrow night....

And I wonder what we'll learn there...