Mud Creek Watershed

I live in southern Leavenworth County and figure I’ve driven past the airport somewhere around 26,000 times in the last 30 years. That stretch of land has a unique quality that’s hard to describe.

In the spring the crops seem to just appear like delicate layer cake. In the fall the cropland reminds me of comfortable old quilts.  Bright winter snow smooths away the rough crop stubble. The hillsides light up and seem to frame the broad flatness. Sometimes the morning fog is so dense the world disappears beyond your fingertips. Evening sunshine can cut in between a stormy sky and the soggy ground. When the moon comes up huge on the horizon, the whole area seems to reach towards it. At night everything has a purplish shimmer and the stars feel close enough to touch.  Would it be the same if buildings instead of hills framed the view or the sky disappeared above electric lights?   A bit of life will be gone.  Life will be different.

I can appreciate the industrially seductive qualities of a nice flat “empty” space with close proximity to mass transit. It’s ironic that these qualities are directly tied to the area’s agricultural richness.

Thankfully the project doesn’t further fragment the wetland/cropland. The utility infrastructure will be messy but fairly contained since there’s already a road.

The challenge I believe is going to be adjusting the zoning so the rest of the 24/40 to K-32 / river to bluffs can remain cropland. Unless the zoning is revamped, property values will eventually trump sentiment. Variances are going to be a continual frustration until we collectively regain our appreciation for floodwaters and the fallibility of flood control constructs. -ALR

Hillcrest Wetland Learners

Hillcrest 6th graders are going to be meeting the crew out at Baker Wetlands this morning – bright & early! Hope everyone dresses warm

The Journal-World’s sending a couple of photographers so we’re hoping that there’ll be a cutie bug picture on front page tomorrow morning. (No pressure but I figure everyone & his dog will be looking for our website & it’s still messy… Note to self: put a connector link fromthe blogspot site to the wordpress site.)

Sandy’s got a great set of presenters up today plus most of the interns are going to be shadowing. Jeanne’s going to be doing her aesthetic awareness exerciser. (She’d got a cool name for her activity but I can’t remember it off the top of my head.) One of her former students is coming along to help – someone new!
Sharon will be working with the students on wetland plant communities. Rebecca’s going to be a second pair of hands. Rex’s running macs with help from Stephanie. Those little critters will be moving slow! Mike’ll be doing his history gig with Jason soaking up the info and hopefully getting it tape recorded. If all goes well I’ll be posting a short audio clip of it on the Wetland Learners site soon. I’m doing chemistry/wetland function with back up from Dianna.

I gotta go wake up my girls, catch a shower, and so on & so forth. Have a great day everyone! -ALR