Observations from Rural Missouri

I'm back again at Cottey C, located in Nevada, Missouri.  Nevada (pronounced Neh Vay Duh, not Neh Vaaa Duh) is located about two hours south of Kansas City and one hour north of Joplin.  It is approximately ten miles from the Kansas border.

Nevada doesn't really change.  Yes, Wal-Mart is bigger these days, as is the Sonic, but some things just haven't changed.  Nevada boys still whistle at the women as they cross the street, the eastern part of town still smells like a Post-It note/Scotch Tape (a 3M factory is located here) and the legendary Cottey food is still, well, legendary. 

It is weird how this town calls people back to it.  Honestly, it is just a small town of 8,000 with a women's college stuck in the middle.  My hostess this week, T, was my "senior" (to the uninitiated, she was a year older, and thus, at a two year school, there are freshmen and seniors) and I've been camping on her couch.  Last night I passed out (yes, out) on her couch in the middle of a gathering of the Posse (a group of like-minded women all affiliated with Cottey past/present).  Never mind the incredibly good wine that was flowing nicely, it was the 21+ hours I had been awake at that point and wa-la, I was passed out cold around 2 a.m.

Two of the most incredible years of my life were spent here.  Now I've committed to a two year term on the Cottey College Alumnae Board, with potential to give six years.  If my plans hold true, I will gain my Ph.D. just about the time I leave the board.  Wow.

Tonight was dinner at Chicken Annie's, a restaurant located in rural Pittsburg, Kansas.  The food was incredible.  For T and I to have fried chicken dinners and beverages, the total bill was less than $20 with tax.  The stranger part was watching the last few minutes of the Butler game at a restaurant in rural Kansas.  You might imagine I was in the minority as a Butler fan in a sea of Kansas State fans. 


With my future aspirations to be a college president, I wonder if I'll land here. I could live here again, I'm sure of it, as this town as a certain type of charm that truly is indescribable.  You'd have to be here to believe it.