The Move
For starters, our move -- initiated on July 5th (my 50th birthday, as it were) -- went off without a hitch. I loaded the dogs into the truck and drove the 775 miles to Kansas on the 6th, Paige brought Hunter and Hollis up on the 7th, and the moving van arrived and unloaded on the 8th. Eight or nine exceptionally long days later and we were pretty much entirely moved in. Hunter flew back to San Antonio a few days later, road-tripped to Wyoming with some Trinity friends to be in a wedding, and is now back in San Antonio living the senior-in-college bachelor life in an apartment not far from where we lived in Terrell Hills. Hadley was too busy with Aggie stuff to make it up this summer and Reagan hadn't yet accumulated enough time off at his job in Austin, but everyone will be coming for Thanksgiving (Lord willing and the creeks don't rise ...).
The House
Paige is still ... er ... adjusting to the Midwest aesthetic (light wood everywhere and rather a less open floor plan than we've ever had before), but with a couple more tweaks I think she'll be fairly content. Maybe. It's certainly weird / suboptimal having 3 levels instead of our much-accustomed and much-beloved 1 1/2, but the bottom level opens to the backyard and the yard itself is absolutely fantastic. It's also cool that Clinton Lake and the associated State Park (about 35 square miles of land and water) are less than 2 miles from our doorstep. One gets to the country really quickly here. Anyway, we've got five or six bedrooms despite the fact that we only use two of them, so if you are ever in Kansas City (40 minutes away) or are just looking for an excuse to get away for a while, come see us.
The Climate
When I can sit out on the deck at 6 p.m. in July and August and be entirely comfortable and mosquito-free, I view that as a major win. I think it probably has been unseasonably cool, but after a couple weeks of Texas-like temperatures, we transitioned to highs from 78-85 and lows in the low 60s. It won't be like that in San Antonio until December. So yes, I am thrilled. Also looking forward to real autumn and real winter. I've not had those things since we left Kentucky in 1991 and I miss them every year.
The Town
As I've told some of you already, Lawrence feels very much like a small version of College Station (except for the politics, which are decidedly Austin). The town revolves around the university, people are nice, every employee absolutely everywhere is a college student, and things are exceptionally clean. There were things I liked OK in San Antonio, but really ... there is nothing like a college town. I'll also note that I have never lived in a quieter neighborhood -- not even in College Station or Murray. Most of the time it sounds like we live on 50 acres, which obviously satisfies my hermit tendencies. I should also mention the week-long Douglas County Fair, which featured a slew of ripoff games, sketchy carnival rides, 4-H livestock and baking contests, and (of course) funnel cake. So yeah, I am sold.
The School
We're still learning about KU and the School of Business, but so far things seem quite good. As I mentioned in my post back in May, I knew a few people in Accounting here before we came and had always heard really good things. Our experience so far indicates that my friends weren't lying. The new Business building is fabulous (click here for a lot of pictures ... if you are a Trinity person, proceed at your own risk), campus is attractive, students are reported to be good, the library looks like an English manor house (at least on the outside), and faculty collegiality seems strong. Plus Dean perks include 4th row, center court tickets at Allen Fieldhouse, so there's that. Better than Rupp Arena? I'll reserve judgment for now. But basketball's inventor, James Naismith, was KU's first coach and the original 13 rules of the game are on display at the DeBruce Center next to the Fieldhouse (which is immediately across Naismith Drive from Paige's walk-out deck). That is kinda cool.
Room for Improvement
Lest you think I'm a total bandwagoner, I do have the following complaints:
- School district zoning apparently is set by the state, and one cannot live outside the boundary lines and buy into the district. As such, developers stack houses pretty much right on top of each other, despite the fact that there are billions of acres of attractive and undeveloped land right outside of town. We have one of the largest lots around and it's less than half an acre. Most are half as big. Ours is large enough given that the footprint of the house -- being 3 levels up and down instead of a ranch -- doesn't take up as much space, but we were hoping to find something quite a bit larger. No can do.
- Church music leaves a lot to be desired. There is nary a choir nor an organ in sight. As such, it seems that we finally will be driven into Brave-New-World-Soma-Worthy-Mind-Numbing Praise Band Land with the rest of the 21st century cattle. Hooray.
- There is altogether too much fondness for stoplights. And the stoplights that exist, spaced roughly every 17 feet, are sequenced by random number generators.
- Finally, the biggest downside to Kansas, by far, is the lack of good Mexican food. Bigger than not having Whataburger (though Hollis would not agree). Bigger than having literally one donut store that isn't Dunkin' Donuts (and no, it isn't Shipley's). I probably can sum up the situation most succinctly by saying that the best Mexican restaurant in town, by a considerable margin, is On the Border. No, I am not kidding. We've tried 6-7 different options at this point, including one last week that had all appearances of being authentic. Paige was away from the table when the food came, so I had the first go at it. When she returned, took a bite, and immediately said "Oh" and stopped chewing, I asked whether she had counted on her enchiladas being made with Spaghetti-O sauce. I am dead serious. I guarantee if you were to go in the back, you would see giant cans of Chef Boyardee. So yeah ... I don't know what is going to happen there. We'll continue trying and I will give an update at Christmas. I'm not super-optimistic, though, because I have talked to three or four long-time residents who have flat-out told me that Mexican food isn't a thing here. Ugh....
Parting Thoughts
Overall, we're really, really happy with this new opportunity and are eager to make the most of it. Hollis's attitude has been very good, which is a much-appreciated bonus. He had a meet-and-greet for band at the high school (yes, he's in 9th grade) a few nights ago and school started this week. He's taking both Geometry and Algebra 2 as a freshman (because he is a big dork), so I hope he can survive with all the other junk he has going on. He's also taking tennis lessons from one of the players on KU's women's team. She's a transfer from UH, is in the MBA program, and is super-nice. We've always enjoyed our involvement with student-athletes and it looks like we're off to a good start with that here, too.
Again, if you're in the area (or wanna be in the area), look us up. And please make note of Paige's new email address.
Mike (mw0705@gmail.com)
Paige (lpaigefields@gmail.com)
1118 Brynwood Court
Lawrence, KS 66049
