Kansas

You are all probably wondering what I think of my new home state. After all it is quite a change to move from a hip state like California to a rather backwards state (one that does not even have curbside recycling) like Kansas. There are sure a lot of differences!

• The humidity (especially before a storm) is amazing. I thought that the part of California we had been living in was pretty moist, especially when compared to Utah, but man sometimes when I head outside I feel like I am walking into a pool.
• The traffic is soo much better here. Rush hour is slightly heavy traffic on the freeway instead of three hours of bumper to bumper traffic.
• The people are so much friendlier here. People working in stores have long involved conversations with you. People actually ask about your children and their ages instead of mostly ignoring them. One of my neighbors brought over some really yummy brownies. It is almost disconcerting to have strangers talking to me when I am out and about. I have to remember to do a real smile instead of the tight lipped half smile and brief nod that was so popular in California.
  
• You don't get looked at strangely when you mention that you go to church. In fact there are churches all over the place and people are not shy about asking you about your church.
• You see more people smoking. In California smokers were seen as social outcasts and misfits, here it seems to be more socially acceptable even if it is still very bad for your health.
• There seems to be more wildlife here in the more settled parts of the city. We have a bunny that regularly visits our yard and there seem to always be a variety of birds eating bugs off our lawn. I even got to see fire flies for the very first time that I can remember.