By Kim Baldwin, McPherson County farmer and rancher
I drove my kids to school one morning last week. As we drove to town, we passed a farm pond that had the remains of a homemade hockey rink pulled onto the wheat surrounding the pond. This particular pond has had many days this winter where the ice has been so thick that hockey games and ice skating has been a common sight for passersby. Now, the ice on the pond has melted and replaced by an impressive number of geese floating on the water.
Since the hockey rink had not been stored away yet, it left me wondering if someone still believes that the pond will freeze thick enough for a few more rounds of hockey this winter.
I would soon discover not everyone shared the belief as the owner of the beached hockey rink.
As I inched closer to the school drop-off line, I couldn’t believe my eyes. Shorts!
They were everywhere.
Kids with exposed legs walking into the school building. Some kids wearing sweatshirts, some wearing long sleeve shirts, some wearing jackets. But so many kids entering the building wearing shorts!
Yes, the temperature outside that morning was significantly warmer than the majority of the days we’ve experienced the last few months.
But in my mind, it was as if those same kids had just gone to school in heavy coats, insulated overalls, knit caps, gloves and snow boots. Literally just days before.
These were the same kids who didn’t have outside recess because of extreme wind chills just days before. The same kids who had multiple days of school called off and late start days because of the wintery conditions. And now, these same kids were all walking into school that morning wearing shorts.
Perhaps the youth do believe that we are still in the throes of winter. Maybe they saw an opportunity to shed some of the extra layers that have been weighing them down for what seems like months. Perhaps they are simply capitalizing on temporary warmer temperatures.
Whatever the case, I caught myself saying out loud as I drove off from the school: “Madness! Pure madness!”
The next day, after much pleading by the kids and double checking the forecast by the parents, both of my kids went to school wearing shorts, too.
Who knows if winter will reappear again before spring officially sets in? Who knows if the kids will have to layer up and stay inside for recess again due to cold temperatures? Who knows?
All I know is that the warmer temperatures, the bright sun and the lack of wind have left many who experienced extreme cabin fever ready to embrace the next season.
Yes, there are many experiencing this fever right now. And for many kids in our school district, the cure for this fever is in the form of shorts.
“Insight” is a weekly column published by Kansas Farm Bureau, the state’s largest farm organization whose mission is to strengthen agriculture and the lives of Kansans through advocacy, education and service.
