The best laid plans... in search of spring

1-17-10 history brain

Greg and I both have a three day weekend due to MLK Holiday. . We had come up with the plan 10 days ago, when we were suffering from cabin fever and struggling to endure the below zero temperatures of this hard winter.

Our plan was to look at the weather map and go searching for spring….. We were willing to drive in the direction of the warmest weather, up to three hours from KC. We would make it a 24 hour trip, either to Branson, St Louis direction, or southwest to Wichita.

Mid week, it looked like Wichita held the promise of 50 degrees and sunny, so Greg made the hotel reservation in the “Old Town” historic area. We would seek out a park to walk in, find a nice restaurant for dinner Saturday, and relax in a hotel for one night as a mini get away from winter.

I made the trip from Des Moines to KC on Friday afternoon on schedule, however the weather was not to cooperate. Saturday morning the weather map showed there was dense fog in all directions from KC. On the radio we even heard that I-35 south of KC toward Wichita was closed due to a 30 car pile up. This information lead us to abort our plans. Driving in fog didn’t sound safe and the weather at our final destination didn’t look any better than what was here in KC.

Saturday afternoon instead, we decided to take our first visit to President Truman’s Library. A little history lesson is always a good distraction. Truman had some difficult decisions to make during the time he became President after FDR died in 1945. Truman’s decisions still affect us today: dropping the Atomic Bomb, recognizing the Jewish state of Israel in 1948, the Truman Doctrine which pointed the way towards the Cold War with Russia, and the Korean War…. Just to name a few.

Anyone who thinks the 50’s were the “good old days”….. needs to brush up on their history. I love how history teaches me…. “the more things change, the more they stay the same”….every generation has their struggles, and often the current struggles are rooted in the past.

It was interesting to learn that Truman did try to start the conversation about civil rights in the early 50's.... which makes me realize what MLK did during the 60's was really quite remarkable.

PS: The search for spring will continue.....