When I first moved to Kansas, I could do NOTHING with my hair.
The difference in climate was a huge factor; which shampoo I used, which conditioner, and how I styled the mop on my head. But perhaps the main reason my hair wouldn’t respond properly was the WIND.
When relatives would come to visit, like my mother, they would have the same complaint unless of course they were bald.
Little did I know, that the very name “Kansas” means “people of the south wind”!
I had heard about the Kansas wind before.
I had read novels where the pioneer women who so valiantly would sacrifice all, packing only a few prized possessions, walk behind a covered wagon through mud and dirt, dig out blocks of sod with their bare hands to build a sod home, and work their fingers to the bone just struggling to survive; I had read about them before I came here.
And what eventually felled many of those women? The wind.
Confined in the middle of nowhere to a small living quarters in the winter where the constant whistling of the wind plummeted their ears, they went stark, raving mad.
There have been multitudes of songs titled, “The Wind”.  Cat Stevens in 1971, to name just one. A novel “The Wind” written in 1925, the film “The Wind” with Lilian Gish made in 1928, and albums, more songs, and poems all talk about that often insidious force.
They all exaggerated, I think.
The silent movie of 1928 told a story of a young woman battling the elements in a barren dustbowl town, marrying in desperation a man who disgusts her, and eventually murdering the lout who rapes her.
Nice theme, huh?
But the wind is also a blessing as well. I have made friends with it.
It dries our crops for harvest, it blows in precious rain, it cools us in the heat, and now we are harnessing it for wind power.
But as for the hair?
I can curl and backcomb, fashion a style and spray, but once I walk out into the wind, the hair becomes a sculpture of stiff and erratically placed ends going every which way.
I might just shave my head.
The story “The Ant and the Grasshopper” is one of Aesop’s great fables. The story describes how a hungry grasshopper begs for food from an ant when the winter comes and is refused. The story sums up the moral lesson about the virtues of hard work and planning for the future.
Have you noticed that there are some who do the work, and others who do very little?
Of course you have.
But I see another twist to this truth.
And I ask you this question.
Are you an ant or a grasshopper?
 Have you ever noticed that those who are the busiest are the most willing to do more when called upon?
Have you noticed that the busy ones always have time to put step up whether it’s to cook an extra meal, drive a friend to the doctor, or hang a false ceiling for a wedding or benefit event?
Have you noticed that there are some who could help, but don’t?
I watch both men and women who are in their late 70s and early 80s working hard to do the “stuff” when the need arises. I see others who could help, do little or nothing.
I remember! The older ones who are doing the work have ALWAYS been that way. I knew them 50 years ago and they rolled up their sleeves and did the volunteer work then. They still do it now.
These older folks won’t be here forever. Time is rushing by.
Then what?

“A Woman’s View” is Judi Tabler’s reflection of her experiences and events. She is a wife, mother, writer, teacher, grandmother, and even a great grandmother.