Sturdy for Common Things

An Ode to LFK

My intention was to write this before leaving, but as many of you know… When you move NOTHING ever goes according to plan. And once you get to where you are going, it takes awhile to find your footing. We moved in early June to Chattanooga and this is me finally sitting down to write my farewell to Lawrence. Or as so many of us from the area endearingly refer to it, LFK.

What I  will miss…

The people

The best part of Lawrence. Hands down. Compassionate, creative, laid back, and proud of where they are from. We fell in love with our friends here.

Summertime in Lawrence

When the students leave town for the summer and the dust settles, the townies come out full-throttle. The Annual Sidewalk Sale mob scene, Tad’s shaved ice, Play Days at The Replay, cooling off at the Wading Pool in South Park, the farmer’s market, Wednesday evening music in the park, cold ginger beer from the new soda shop… It’s my favorite time of the year in Lawrence.

 

Alley Walking

Locals walk the alleys to get to where they are going. It’s our own secret passage to get to where we are going without having to mingle with the “other folks”.

Free State Beer

Oldest brewery in Kansas. Best beer ever. Hands down.

This Sunflower Field 

The anticipation of waiting for that perfect day in September when Gritner Farm’s sunflower field is in bloom.

The Local Bookstores & Literary Scene

Lawrence has an awesome presence of indie bookstores. The Raven, The Dusty Bookshelf, Signs of Life, The Toy Store, Astrokitty… All stellar in their own right. My buddy Rachel wrote a great article a month ago for Bookriot about the literary scene in Lawrence.

East Lawrence

My hood. Where people prefer dandelions and chickens running around to neatly mowed yards. This pretty much sums up East Lawrence.

The Museums

For being a town of  a little under 90,000 residents, Lawrence sure does have a lot of awesome museums. The Lawrence Arts Center, The Watkins Museum of History, The Spenser Art Museum, The KU Natural History Museum are just a few of the favorites we’d often visit on cold or rainy days.

 

Mass Street Culture

This could probably be an umbrella for a lot of the above. But I’m going to list it here anyway. Mass Street is the heart of Lawrence. Everything you need is in several blocks and neighboring streets. Liberty Hall, the Pig, Love Garden, AstroKitty, 715, The Toy Store, The Sandbar, stellar bookstores, The MUSIC! The ART! All of it! I could drink it up in one big gulp!

 

The Basketball

The place where college basketball was born. The energy that fills the air in February and March (and let’s be real, October, November, December, January too). Rockchalk Jayhawk.

The Library

This goes up with the first category of “the people”. There are some really incredible people with good hearts that work in this joint. I’ve been cheerleading from a distance as the remodel comes to a close and Lawrence Public Library will welcome the community back into it’s building for the first time in a couple years. I wish I could be there to see the patrons’ faces. Good luck to you all on the new venture! Not a day goes by that I don’t think of you or the library families that are so incredibly supportive.

I will end this by quoting Pooh. The Winnie the Pooh. That silly old bear has a way of summing up all my feelings into one thought.

“How lucky I am to have something that makes saying goodbye so hard.”

And the Langston Hughs words that are in front of City Hall:

“We have tomorrow / Bright before us / Like a flame.” 

I love you, LFK.