kansas...in october

despite my best efforts to ignore it, it seems as though autumn has finally come to the sunflower state. the weather has turned, the leaves have all fallen (though, oddly, are no where to be found), and snowbirds flock in massive numbers. their rv's range through town, stalking any points-of-interest with a public restroom like starving hyenas on the serengeti.

autumn normally marks an event that had become something of a tradition for my friends and i, but, for the first time in 4 years i wont be attending the infamous hinsdale halloween party at arch hall in lincoln. given my track record with the event my absence bodes well for my head, liver, wallet, friends, and normally-frightened onlookers...but as it is the 100th anniversary of the patent of those beautiful, giant slabs of urine soaked porcelain i cant help but feel a bit nostalgic (though the let down is nothing compared to my feelings toward project runway at the moment.) not that i am not happy to be here in greensburg, but there is a marked lack of over-sized urinals in southwest kansas.

i did have a couple of visitors in town recently, and news/proof of the outside world is always welcome and appreciated. they are former colleagues who were in town on business and of whom i hope to be seeing in town more often if all goes well. more on this later.

work is going well. we are getting ready to roll out a project that i am very excited about, the green home checklist. basically the 'ghc' is a simple questionnaire we developed used to assess how 'green' ones home and lifestyle really are. the whole endeavor actually grew out of nowhere recently and has come to realization very rapidly. i am hoping the response is positive here in town and we are able to collect a lot of the data that we have been hoping to for quite some time.

another thing i am very excited about is my recent purchase of The Bread Bible by Rose Levy Beranbaum which i have come to like even more than the real bible. i have yet to actually bake any of the recipes (i am waiting on a few deliveries before i can get started) but i pray my bread comes out better than that recipe they use from the real bible. so flat.  

i made my way over to the kiowa county commons building today. the commons will serve as greensburg's library, media center, historical museum, and local extension office as well as being a great addition to main st. the building system being used is ICF construction which has the potential to save the building as much as 50% on its energy bills. check below for progress photos.

architects rendering / progress as of 10.30.10

construction process

coming soon: november

aja

kansas...and all that it entails

its been nearly two months since i moved to kansas and the reality of it has finally settled in. the transition has been a smooth one save for a few moments of blinding panic; one coming when i realized that the nearest jimmy johns was 148 miles away [and wont deliver] and the other when i realized the wind would never stop blowing.

work has been both rewarding and entertaining. every day we, as an organization, strive to educate people on the latest and most cutting edge ecological building and lifestyle technologies. we showcase products from around the globe that help people live more sustainable lives and create a better environment for themselves and their neighbors. we advocate and sermonize the living laboratory that is greensburg, ks...and yet, without fail, every visitor that comes through that front door asks about "that green stuff we saw on the tv."

i have to laugh [not at them, of course...] and remind myself that though sustainability has permeated nearly every aspect of my life, it has not yet done so for everyone else.

my social calendar has all but moldered up and blown away in the horrific wind, but joah and i try to find things to occupy our free time. a recent trip to a place that may or may not have been colorado for greentown business allowed me to catch up with some old friends and to make a few new ones. i have also been putting my new truck to use by driving aimlessly in the country for hours on end and going treasure hunting on abandoned farmsteads.  the former produced some nice photographs and future camping spots, the later; 
the need to update my tetanus shot and a sunday afternoon well spent. enjoyable all around.

look forward to continuing posts with even more vague details and dry humor.

coming soon: pictures.

aja