CRPS, or Complex Regional Pain Syndrome (Type 1), is a change in the nervous system that's usually triggered by a very painful episode. The bad kinds affect the brain, nerves, muscles, skin, metabolism, circulation, and fight-or-flight response. Lucky me; that's what I've got. ... But life is still inherently good (or I don't know when to quit; either way) and, good or not, life still goes on.

Tuesday, November 13, 2012

I don't think we're in Kansas anymore

We made spanking time:  crossed all of Kansas, made it to Limon, Colorado (and the best ribeye in I can remember), and got our first glimpse of vertical: Pike's Peak at long range.

View CRPS - Art & Spirit: renew, refine, research, revise in a larger map
Kansas was unbelievably flat. Not quite as flat as a billiard table, because those are too small to really convey the right impression.  Every now and then, there was a bit of texture -- a teeny dell, a couple yards deep; a bit of watering hole; something. I'd stare at it in relief.

Then the landscape went back to flat. Really damn flat. I mean, flat, flat, flat, flat, flat.

Flatter.

The conservatism that's such a feature of the Midwest makes some sense when you see it. The whole place is so flat (especially Kansas!) that there's no privacy. You have to plant dozens of trees around your house before you can have any hope of discretion.

With such a constant sense of exposure, doesn't it make sense that people would edit their own behavior before it can be edited for them? We all behave more carefully when we feel we're being watched. Around here, it's hard not to watch anything that isn't .... flat.

Tomorrow, my sweetie assures me, there will be terrain. Lots of it.

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