Tyler Baker
Blue Springs South High School PTSA
Blue Springs, MO
When my mom is asked about where she is from she always says the same thing: "I grew up in the middle of nowhere." She laughs and says things like "if you blink your eyes you'll miss it," or "you could throw a rock from one end of town to the other." Mom always says she could never go back, but the truth is that in her heart she never really left that little town where she grew up. When she goes "down home" to visit, there isn't a single person who doesn't wave, call her by name and stop to "chew the fat." She remembers every one of her teachers, her neighbors, her friends, and they all remember her. After we've visited, my grandma will send us a copy of the local weekly paper and in the News Around Town section there will be an article that reads something like this:
Jana (Pontious) Baker along with her husband Rick and sons Zach and Tyler spent the weekend visiting family and catching up with old friends. They went to the rodeo on Friday night, attended the pancake breakfast on Saturday, and fished the Chikaskia that evening. The fish were really biting and they had a cooler full of catfish to take back to Kansas City.Mom always cracks up when she reads these and says, "folks down home are sure hard up for news." I know, though, that she loves this little town in the middle of nowhere and I've grown to love it too. In fact, Nowhere has become my favorite place.
Nowhere is actually a little town in South-Central Kansas called Argonia. Argonia has a population of about 600 in the city limits, but there are farms scattered outside the community. When I visit, I'm not a stranger - I'm "Jr. and Alverna's grandson, Jana's youngest son, Rick's nephew, Scott's cousin - I'm immediately accepted as one of their own.
This is where I fist tasted independence and freedom. Unlike in the city, I could ride my bike all over town, go to the park with friends, or go uptown to the sundries for a coke and a candybar without my parents worrying about my safety. This is where I learned to ride a four - wheeler, to seine for bait, to fish to shoot blue rock, and to hunt. I also learned that playing spots doesn't always mean being on an organized team led by adults. Some of the best baseball games I've ever played have been pickup games down at the Baptist Church Yard in Argonia. It's amazing how a ragtag group of kids, when left to their own devices can organize a game, choose teams, umpire, and keep score, all without the interference of adults.
This is also where I learned to drive a car -- not when I turned 15, but as soon as I could reach the pedals and see over the steering wheel. Mom took me up to the high school parking lot when I was first learning to drive. I'd drive around the parking lot over and over, practicing starting, stopping, and parking. Next, I graduated to driving around my Uncle's farm and on country roads. Finally, by the time I was 12, Mom would let me drive in town and she showed me how to "drag Main." Dragging Main is not about drag racing, it's about driving south on Main to the railroad tracks, flipping a U-turn (which is legal there), and driving North on Main to the Old Jr. High where you flip another U-turn and repeat the whole process. Everyday, when school lets out, all the high school kids drag Main for about 15 minutes -- honking, waving, and acting stupid. My mother told me that it's a tradition - one that began long before she was in high school and continues today.
I like the friendliness of this little town. I like the freedom. I like the traditions and the way the community pulls together and helps anyone who has a problem. When someone dies everyone knows, when a baby is born everyone knows. More importantly, everybody cares about these events. To me, this little town in the middle of Nowhere is Someplace special. It is my favorite place.
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