Okay, so maybe that is a bit of an overstatement. But Kelsey, Hagar the Cell Phone, and the little red clown car did have an interesting encounter on the great prarie of Missouri with a wild bison herd...

I decided on my day off today that I would visit Missouri's Prarie State Park, the largest remaining tallgrass prarie in the state. So after visiting Harry S. Truman's birthplace in Lamar, the little red clown car and I trundled down the gravel road out toward the prarie. I knew it would be interesting when I saw park signs that said, "Do Not Leave Vehicle-- Bison Herds Roam Freely." Sure enough, as I drove along I could see a herd grazing off in the distance.

When I later told the folks at the visitor's center that I wanted to go for a prarie walk, they told me that I needed to be careful to keep a 200 yard distance between myself and any bison I might encounter. If approached, they said, I should move casually and slowly away from the animal, being sure not to make any sudden moves. Easier said than done when you're dealing with the largest terrestial creature in North America. As I crested the hill leaving the visitor's center and saw "rocks" with swishing tails, I decided I didn't want to push my luck and turned back to the center. But that wasn't my only wildlife encounter...

I was driving back out of the park when I looked ahead and saw that the bison herd had moved all the way to the edge of the road. The little red clown car trembled as we approached-- would the bison become angry and try to charge the car? Should I turn back? I slowly crept forward as the first bison lifted his head and looked straight at me. He (or she) then turned back and started chowing down on the grass. I took this as a sign that the herd wasn't interested in me... and then I pulled out my camera and started frantically snapping photos of the bison out my window as the little red clown car passed by. As I looked behind me at the gate of the park, they were all still there, unperturbed by the crazy tourist in their midst.

From Bangkok cabs to the Great Plains-- always an adventure.

I'm at Beth Ruhl's house now, baking cookies for tomorrow's presentation on faith and feminism at the University of Kansas. Don't ever think that empowered Christian feminists can't do some serious damage with a Kitchen-Aid stand up mixer.

Kelsey

Hmmm...herd of angry bison or 1500lb clown car...I think you have a better chance trying to run away from a herd of bison.