Rock Chalk

You don’t have to hang around here long to figure out that we’re proud alumns of the University of Kansas. In fact, most days, at least one of us can be found wearing some sort of Jayhawk garb.

Such was the case on this brilliantly sunny day as we strolled through the very quaint downtown of Durango, Colorado. Paul was wearing a KU t-shirt. Not long after we stepped onto the sunny side of Main Street, we heard a familiar cry.

“Rock chalk!”

Those two words are the essence of what President Theodore Roosevelt once called “the greatest college chant” he’d ever heard. It’s a universal call known to Jayhawks everywhere. The response is automatic. It’s hard-wired into our DNA. Paul and I chimed in unison.

“Jayhawk!”

We looked around to see the source of this collegiate curiosity. A cheerful couple was standing at the curb. They beamed at our response. He pulled back his jacket to reveal and embroidered Jayhawk on his puffed out chest. Above the mythical bird was the word “Journalism”.

As two graduates of the William Allen White School of Journalism we had found one of our very own flock!

Instantly we were chatting like long lost kin. They graduated in the late 60s, just a decade before us. We compared histories and found common ground. They had started their careers in our native Kansas City and are enjoying retirement in nearby Pagosa Springs.

They were standing with brand-new friends they had only just met, a couple of fellow ham operators from Texas. Like our fellow Jayhawks, these good folks had once called Pagosa Springs home. These days, they’re hanging in Kerrville, Texas, one of favorite spots in the land! They asked where we stayed this winter, and they knew right where that is. And, when we inquired as to the location of their home, it was a familiar spot we passed by several times.

The small world talk continued. But, we kept coming back to ol’ KU. It’s amazing how a shared experience in the same place at a different time can make strangers instant friends. It was really something.

Before long, it was time for this happy group of new friends to break up. We exchanged cards, snapped a few pictures and promised to keep in touch.

Yep. It made our day.

When we lived in Kansas City, we saw folks wearing Jayhawk attire everywhere we looked. Then, it was nothing special. But, once we moved a couple thousand miles away from home spotting a Jayhawk became a special event.

Since we’ve hit the road, we’ve seen Jayhawks here and there. And, everytime, the greeting is the same. It starts with a “Rock Chalk” and ends with a “Jayhawk”.

In between, it seems, we always meet a new friend.