Henry David Thoreau, the author of “Walden”, urged us to “Live in each season as it passes; breathe the air, drink the drink, taste the fruit, and resign yourself to the influence of the earth.” Over the last few months, and since I began writing these monthly reflections on the beauty and opportunity of the Kansas outdoors, life has become a little more confusing and less certain. COVID-19 now informs much of our daily routine and has forced us to take stock of our circumstances in ways unprecedented in our lifetimes.
My own family home has been immediately affected by this global pandemic. Very close friends, who were living and working in Singapore and set to move to a new post as the head of an international school in Indonesia, are currently living with us, as all incoming flights to Indonesia have been put on hold until the world gets a handle on this crisis. We’ve chosen to embrace our shared disruption by creating opportunities to introduce the splendors of the Kansas countryside to the children of our visiting friends. Having spent the last three years in the beautiful, yet bustling, Singapore, they have immersed themselves in country life with enthusiasm and wonder. With each adventure, we have affirmed the importance of getting dirty!
We have been busy this month spending time on the water, building an elaborate shoreline fort, catching (and releasing) snakes, hand fishing for giant carp in the shallow mudflats, trolling for trophy white bass, and learning how to do chores at the chicken farm. We even set up a tree stand in preparation for archery deer season and scouted for the ideal camping spot to enjoy when the weather cools and autumn ushers in. The kids have learned how to spot the perfectly near-ripe tomato, experienced a semblance of the local and state fairs and even successfully gigged individual limits of enormous bullfrogs in the swampy darkness their first time out!
These are kids well-versed in the ways of the world. They have lived overseas for either most or even all of their lives and are as well-traveled as anyone you will ever meet. They have been to many of the world’s greatest cities and know how to navigate a myriad of public transportation systems, order food and ask directions in multiple languages, and have close friends in dozens of countries. They are savvy in the city; they are also having the time of their lives wallowing in the mud of the Kansas countryside and living in the moment of Thoreau’s allusion.
It is fair to say that one silver lining of the COVID-19 dark cloud has been that they have embraced the opportunity to “resign [themselves]to the influence of the earth.” After learning how to fillet a fish the other evening, the boy, who is 10 and has spent his whole life in cities either in the Middle East or Singapore, turned to me and said “There’s so much to do in the country!” I agreed with him, but more importantly, I felt joy that he saw what I did. What we do. That even when living in an uncertain world, Kansas is a great place to discover who we really are. Stay safe. Be well. See you in the country.
Dr. Ty Frederickson grew up in Kansas and Australia. He is a graduate of Emporia State University, Wichita State University, and Wilkes University where he is an assistant professor. He is a FreeState Electric Cooperative member and a U.S. Navy veteran.