GREENSBURG, Kan.–As this project wears on, the workload seems to increase exponentially.
Tuesday I spent the entire day in Greensburg shooting photos and interviewing sources.
One of the highlights was when two other group members and I stopped by the town pool to talk with the locals.
The children of Greensburg have sweet aquatic skills.
Of course, we also met some cool bikers (not bicycle bikers as our professor, Les Anderson, first thought). Project member Annie Cook even had her picture taken with them.
We met these road warriors at Greensburg’s beer store, but thankfully they weren’t consuming and driving. They only drank non-alcoholic beverages.
I also saw more cool signs, especially one advertising Greensburg as the new and hip vacation spot for college students.
After the full day of work, Les Anderson’s son, Ben Anderson, drove with his family from Valley Center, Kan., to provide everyone in the group with a delicious meal of pork.
The meal was followed by a rousing and sweaty game of three-on-three basketball in the gym where we shower.
Wednesday was also quite eventful. I shot many photos and talked with several people, but the real excitement came in the evening when one group member secured the entire team an invite to go swimming.
Annie Cook had interviewed Sue Greenleaf, of Greensburg, and the two became fast friends. Greenleaf invited Cook and the rest of us to go to her farm and swim in her pool.
Pictured from left: Annie Cook, Patrick Vera, Todd Vogts, Matt Heilman and Ian Crane.
There was some reported accidental nudity during a clothes change, but that is OK according to Greenleaf’s posted rules.
After swimming, though, Vera and I got acquainted with a local, 21-year-old man named Cody. He took us on a hair-raising ride through open cattle range during the darkest part of the night.
He drove fast, easily negotiating hair-pin turns, cattle and a road barely wide enough to accommodate his Dodge Ram V8 pickup.
Cody was an interesting fellow. I am glad we went on the late-night trip, even if his stories were a bit much at times.
Today, however, has been the least exciting day of them all.
I have barely left my computer as I have been uploading stories to www.greensburgrebirth.com.
A few of us did play a quick round of pool and table tennis. I lost horribly to Ian Crane in pool and Jelena Petrovic in table tennis.
It was quite embarrassing, especially since I lead both games up until the end.
For the rest of the evening, though, I will be posting stories and editing photos.
Tomorrow will be our last day here. I will post something tomorrow or Saturday . . . I hope.
However, I did post a wrap-up piece earlier because I had to meet a deadline for it to be published in The McPherson (Kan.) Sentinel. You can read it here.
Also, stay tuned this weekend for a big announcement.
Here’s a hint: I got a job.
