Kansas celebrated it’s 151st birthday yesterday, January 29.
What birthday gift do u get someone who has everything - including their very own official dirt?
That’s right. We have an official “state dirt.” Not political dirty laundry, not dirty air as in “polluted.” But dirt. The stuff ya dig in. And we have our very own official dirt.
And amazingly, it’s not gumbo. The part of the state I live in has no shortage of that stuff. Gumbo is a really hard and worthless kind of clay – kind of nature’s version of Kevlar. Certainly throughout time this gunk is the kind of texture that undoubtedly broke dinosaur teeth in prehistoric times and gives burrowing groundhogs and prairie dogs hangover scale headaches.
But, I mean seriously; the official “state dirt?” I knew we had a state capital (Topeka) an officila state bird (Western Meadowlark) and a state tree (the Cottonwood) - what state doesn't? - even a state reptile (Ornate Box Turtle. Ornate as in...the base model?).
But a "state dirt?" Really? Seriously? But, according to several sources on the web*, our state dirt is Harney Silt Loam. I mean, Who knew?
Good God all Friday. My tax dollars at work.
I just hope our illustrious state legislature didn't spend more than the 24 seconds this critical matter deserved. However, I've got faith that the Official State Dirt of Kansas was determined thru several committee meetings, a fact-finding dirt junket around to various interesting locales in the state and vigorous debate in the statehouse.
Happy birthday, Kansas. Being a state for 151 years is a milestone worthy of a gift. But, what do ya get someone who “has everything,” including their very own kinda dirt?
*http://www.statesymbolsusa.org/Kansas/Kansas_symbols.html
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