As a native Kansan, I'm used to hearing outsiders' stereotypical perceptions of my home state.

"It's so flat," people always say. This is because probably the most they've ever seen of Kansas is the view glimpsed out the window on the stretch of Interstate 70 that takes travelers through endless farm fields to the ski slopes of Colorado.

But in truth, I hadn't experienced much more of Kansas myself.

Until recently, I'd traveled very little in the state outside the suburban slice of the northeast where I was raised.

That all changed two years ago, when I heard about what sounded like an enchanting summertime event: Every June, the Kansas City Symphony totes its concert shell way out onto ranch land in the middle of the Flint Hills and performs a special concert there.

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