Every Day is Kansas Day for Kansans

For your listening pleasure while reading this post

New and old wind energy peppers the plains of beautiful Kansas

Whoopee - it's Kansas Day! And this born and bred native is going to take advantage of the opportunity to brag on my home state.

For those of you who don't live in The Wheat State, we joined the Union on January 29, 1861 as a free state after a lot of violence and chaos with neighboring Missouri. And every year, I get super jacked up to celebrate the birthday of this fantastic state I love. I've actually sort of been celebrating this whole week of Kansas' birthday, because honestly, every day is Kansas day for Kansans. That's just how much we love it here.



I think it takes a special kind of person to love and appreciate Kansas. Rolling hills covered in native grasses, wide open skies, roaming buffalo, spastic weather and the completely enthralling feeling of being able to see a vast nothingness for miles are just a few of the exceptional facets Kansas has to offer.  

 

I love everything about this place: the emptiness, the scenery and, most importantly, the cathartic feeling of inhaling two-lungs worth of fresh, wild air that is untouched by the side effects of a metropolis. I love this land so much I have permanently altered my body to reflect my Kansas roots.

 

I know I'm not the only prairie dweller to experience these feelings. I have friends in the Dakotas, Nebraska and Oklahoma who feel the same way about their home states as well. We aren't crazy for preferring the vast emptiness of the plains over the hustle and bustle of the city - we're just a different breed of people. And, as we all know, the world needs all kinds of kinds.

 

So here's to you ole girl. May your Flint Hills remain inhabited by bison, your winds blow strong and uninhibited by skyscrapers and your heritage continue to be rooted firmly in wheat and beef.

Kansas is the centerpiece on our mantle right now - a gorgeous silver sunflower platter.

Always a Kansan,

~ Buzzard ~

Bacon For A Birthday

I am quite confident in my gift giving abilities. I work really hard to give thoughtful gifts for birthdays, weddings, Christmas etc. Just ask The Ninja, our first Christmas together I gave him a personalized leather padfolio with his initials and a PowerCat on the back. It was an awesome gift and he thought I was an awesome girlfriend (duh). I eventually became the awesome wife. But I digress.

So, I am especially thrilled to have found this next gift for the meat lovers in my life. I just haven't decided who is going to get it yet. Both my stepdad and my father-in-law have birthdays in January and maybe one or both of them are going to get a subscription to Zingerman's Bacon Club. Did you catch that last part.

Bacon. Club.

A membership that provides you a pound of artisan bacon every. single. month. What carnivore wouldn't love that?! I first saw it in the Taste of Home my mom sent me in the mail - the cover was adorned with cookies and sweets so of course I'm going to read it. I was so excited about this club that I Instagrammed the image of bacon in the magazine. Obsessed, folks.

You can order a 3-month or 6-month subscription for yourself or a friend (or a friendly blogger named Buzzard) and the varieties range from Applewood Smoked to Long Pepper. Wowza, my mouth is watering already. Yummo.

This club has been so successful that it has recruited six vegetarians. Six people who have sworn off meat as part of their value system were brought back from the dark side by bacon. Lovely sweet bacon - it must be why they call it the "crossover meat." I love bacon almost as much as I love beef jerky. And this is my favorite brand of beef jerky (my birthday is in April y'all) and it's made in God's country aka southeastern Kansas. Wow - this post has gone from gift giving to beef jerky. Great transformation.

So what do you think? Is a bacon club membership a good gift? What are some of the best gifts you've given (or received)? Was food involved?

Until next time,
~ Buzzard ~

I spent my birthday money on...

Yes, I still get birthday money.

Don't ask me why but I think only a crazy person would turn down checks that arrive in the mail. As long as they keep showing up, I'll keep using them.

Anyhow, maybe I bought a new pair of these....I've only been wanting them since last May

Or perhaps I spent my money on some new jeans... I've really been needing two or three new pairs. I'm particulary attached to Silver Jeans and would love to have a pair of Big Star, Miss Me or BKE (although they'd break my budget).

I've also been wanting a coral blazer and some cute new summer dresses (check out my Pinterest boards to see what I'm talking about).

So what did I buy with my birthday cash?

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I bought some of this...

to feed to him.

This is my "child" and his name is Doc. He really really wants to mess up those shavings but I had to snap a picture first (with my new favorite app, Instagram! Follow me @brandibuzzard)

Yes, I bought prairie hay, pine shavings, fly spray and feed for my horse because I needed all of those supplies and I'm not very good at splurging on myself. I'm horrible at it really. The Ninja hates that and tried to get me to buy new jeans or some Vera Bradley pieces that I adore. But how could I shirk my responsibilities to feed and care for an animal who has been my A-team rope horse for an entire decade? I can't.

And since I have your attention, I am going to brag on this fabulous steed. This is Buzzard's Zanadoc (Doc) and I at the Hays College Rodeo in 2008.

Look how he burys up - gives me chills.

Pratt College Rodeo in 2007 in the short round. He works so hard and is automatic. Same run every time - breaks hard, runs fast, stops hard. Doesn't get off track, doesn't stray and always gives me the money shot. I love him.

He's carried me a long way - I roped my first calf off him in October 2002 and have rarely roped calves without him. He's been lame off and on; roping is hard on the hocks and legs in general. He's also clumsier than all get out (sound familiar?) and could get hurt in a padded room but he's worth every frustration, cent and minute. We raised him on the Buzzard ranch, out of one of Papaw's mares and he's a nephew to our great Quarter Horse stud Take Care O' Neall. He's laid up right now with a very swollen deep digital flexor tendon and I may never rope off him again (crossing my fingers that the vets are wrong) but he'll never be sold or traded off to another home. I'll feed him, care for him and adore him until the day he dies. I'll continue to boast of him long after he's gone. He's paid his dues and now it's time I pay mine.

This post was supposed to be about responsibility and taking care of livestock but it turned into much more than that. I'll never have another horse like Doc and I hope that every roper who reads this is reminded of that first good horse they had which probably still holds a soft spot in their heart today.

Until next time,

~ Buzzard ~