Sketchbook Exposé #12
She's A Midwest Princess
Hello my darling little tender berries.
As you may have noticed, many of my “Sketchbook Exposés” are illustrations from years past, but this time around I have some piping hot doodles— straight from the oven of summer 2024.
Last month I ventured to the Midwest.
My husband is from Kansas, so we took baby on a Midwest tour from:
Lawrence, KS —> Judsonia, AR
Judsonia, AR —> Howard, KS
Howard, KS —> Lawrence, KS
It looked a little something, like this:
I nearly died. I’m only half joking.
Actually I’m not joking at all, it’s was extremely stressful.
Despite the absolute depleting exhaustion of driving 15 hours with an infant across 4 states in 2 weeks, there were parts of the journey that I did enjoy.
For example, I really love Lawrence, Kansas.
It’s a lovely college town 40 miles west of Kansas City. They have a thriving arts scene and excellent coffee (Praise Jesus, Amen).
Lawrence is also where many of The Get Up Kids reside, which was one of my all time favorite bands when I was in high school. They are the kings of Midwest Emo.
The lead singer, Matt Pryor, can be spotted walking around Lawrence on a regular basis.
TGUK’s Ryan and Rob Pope also run my favorite bar in town, The Bourgeois Pig.
I’ve lived my whole life in California, which sets me up to be quite ignorant on the Midwest.
Fortunately I used some of our many-houred drives to ask my husband and sister-in-law about Midwest culture.
As we drove south into Arkansas I thought to ask:
“Where is the line between the Midwest and the South?”
I know this isn’t a definitive line, per se, but if anyone knew, it was Mat and Laura.
They both agreed that halfway down Missouri is the dividing line.
This is the line where iced tea, becomes sweet tea.
We drove through the Ozarks and landed in Judsonia, AR.
I don’t really fit in culturally with Judsonia, but I was very taken by the wildlife and forests.
Every night the crickets and frogs put on a performance that my meditation apps wish they could sell— but nothing’s quite like the real thing.
The natural vibrations wash over you and you get this feeling that maybe a slower lifestyle really is what living is all about.
After Judsonia we drove through Oklahoma and back up into lower east Kansas into Howard.
Howard, Kansas is very small. It’s the kind of place where you can’t even see your nearest neighbors house, despite the gigantic sky and low terrain.
Instead there are fields of soy beans and winter wheat in nearly every direction.
I’m grateful to have Howard, Kansas in my life.
It’s a world so drastically different than anywhere I’ve ever lived.
It opens my eyes to perspectives and lifestyles I was shamefully ignorant to before.
The sunsets are also strikingly beautiful.
Comments (Let’s Chat!):
Do you have much experience with the American Midwest?
What do you think of when you think of the Midwest?
Unsweetened or sweetened tea?
Listening to:
"She's a midwest princess."
There's a double meaning in that! Love it.
glad y'all survived the heat and i assume the earthquakes back home....just this week i had to research exactly what the mid-west consists of exactly and its bigger than i thought!!! its like an area which includes more than just the "heart"-land...actually an entire chestful of other organs none of which the rest of the country could live without yayyyyyyy i'll give a listen to that music eventually