the Great Plains

there's something unique about riding the winds of the Great Plains in the fall. 

a quiet beauty to the patchwork of golds & greens along either side of the road. an enormous silence at times broken only by the wind humming through the power lines overhead, or the dull chop-chop-chop of a tractor engine in the distance. 

even with the winds pushing you along at 20-24mph down smooth, straight roads, the scope of the landscape slows down time. fields of wheat, corn & wild grasses stretch for miles, broken only by a few county roads, dirt two-tracks that score the land in a perfectly square checkerboard pattern. 

I'd much rather ride through Kansas than drive through Kansas. the state begs to be experienced with all five senses. the myriad of smells (good & bad) changing with each land parsel passed. the strong push of the winds (hopefully at your back) in rhythm with the wave of the grasses and high stalks of crops. the sounds of silence. the taste of the air, cooled by the winds and fall weather, the pale yellow sun too weak to raise the temperatures above the 40s - perfect for cycling. and the sight of it all, experienced at the pace & scale of an individual (before the automobile), the very pace, in fact, at which Kansas was developed. 

ultimately, I've found this is a state where you find yourself reflecting on the breadth of God's creation, and how your own life and desires fit into His will for us here on earth. 

until next time,

may the wind be always at your back

josh & mark

the lifecycle team