This summer we went down to visit my brother’s family in Oklahoma. I first moved Oklahoma when I was nine years old. I’m originally from Los Angeles but my mother divorced my father, and her subsequent boyfriend’s job moved us to Oklahoma. I would live in Oklahoma for the next 15 years until I was 24 and left for graduate school.
My younger brother still lives there and until Trump was elected I used to go back quite regularly. I hadn’t been back since he was elected. That’s not so much because of my brother’s politics. He tends to be apolitical. It’s just that people I grew up with some very important to me have and are Trump supporters. I just can’t look the other way on that sort of hateful support.
This isn’t my brother’ fault and I have felt guilty for not getting back. I decided to visit this summer. My brother and his wife and their kids recently moved out to the country on an acre of land. So, it was time for me to see my little brother, and for my city daughter to see her country cousins.
Their house is surrounded by wind farms. I think they are actually an entertaining addition to the natural landscape. It’s not like Oklahoma is known for her trees or hills. The windmills give you something to admire. Harnessing nature for power. Oklahoma’s history is so defined by energy. This would be such a cool next chapter for the state.
While, Oklahoma isn’t known for being much in the way of progressive policies, it nevertheless has its liberal cracks allowing its residents some room to breathe (pun intended).
On our way back we came up the plains of Kansas. When I was in graduate school at Kansas State, I grew familiar with this pathway to OKC visiting my mom and brother. The Flint Hills are so under appreciated in their simplistic beauty. I would compare it to watching waves in the ocean.
Kent Bausman, 2022
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