Back From Kansas City

I'm back from scoring AP European History exams in Kansas City. I avoided any tornadoes in the city on the wide Missouri River but couldn't completely avoid the heat. The daily highs ranged from 93 to 97, accompanied by the kind of high humidity we don't get in Visalia. Outside of the work-related, I set up a group trip of 14 of us to take in a baseball game at the very attractive Kauffman Stadium, home of the Kansas City Royals. The home town team fell to the visiting Minnesota Twins 8-2.

I was also able to partake in some famous KC barbecue at Jack Stack's. I had the sampler platter including beef, chicken, a baby back rib and even kielbasa. It was excellent. I came back with some BBQ sauce for home, including from a couple of restaurants I didn't get to, Arthur Bryant's and Gates.

Then there was an outing to the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art. It has to be seen to be believed--spectacular. Monet's "Water Lilies" were there on tour. It also has Egyptian, Greek, Etruscan, Roman, Medieval, Enlightenment Era, American, African, Asian and modern. Architecturally, the building looks like it might have been put up by an 1890s robber baron, with marble columns in the monumental neoclassical style--very impressive. I didn't even get to the American and Asian collections but if I ever return to KC I'll be back for the rest of it.

On the topic of the work-related, I'll be incorporating some of the material from the AP test in my Western Civilization classes. There were some fascinating documents on England's Queen Elizabeth I and the gender-related challenges she faced when she ascended the throne, including how she handled the potentially fatal (for her) situation. I also learned a lot about the events leading up to the English Civil War. That is the interlude that ended with Charles I losing his head and determining that Parliament would reign supreme in Britain rather than following the course of absolute monarchy that was gaining the upper hand in France, Spain, Austria, Russia and Prussia. The developments of Britain and the Netherlands along constitutional rather than absolutist lines was of immense significance in setting the stage for their rise to prominence and bequeathing important elements of their systems to the subsequent democracies, including that of the United States.