Lawrence.com

The man who lives only by hope will die with despair. - Italian proverbThe locusts were loud in the woods surrounding Roanoke Park in midtown Kansas City, 35 miles as the crow flies northeast of Lawrence's City Hall. Roanoke Park is a midsized park with a sand volleyball court, a tennis court in decent repair, an abandoned baseball field, a soccer field with more bare spots than grass and half a basketball court. Westport Roanoke Community Center, closed since July for renovations, sits on its grounds. Karnes Boulevard sweeps through the north end of the park and a section of Roanoke Road that has remained paved with brick divides the park in half. Realtor Becky Hopkins, who lives just south of the park, tells people this is the last surviving brick road in city limits.Near the southwest entrance to the park there are a couple of picnic tables where homeless men get drunk on 40s and talk. A man arrived at one of the picnic tables with a 40 wrapped in a paper bag and a little radio that he switched on at a low volume. An old woman in red sat on a bench on the other side of some playground equipment, reading. Two young men played tennis while a third sat outside the court, studying a textbook. Two boys in white polo shirts-one barely able to walk, the other twice his height-jogged from the swingset to the tennis courts, with a young woman following behind. The older boy sat outside the court and watched. The young woman settled in next to him. The little boy bumbled onto the court and disrupted the game for a moment.Northeast of the park is Coleman Highlands, an old neighborhood of nice stone houses, big trees and neat lawns. Due north of the park is an industrial area leading up to Southwest Boulevard, where the Boulevard Brewing Company is located. A few blocks to the west is Kansas City, Kan.The weather was warm and mild. The sun ducked in and out of clouds. It was nearing 4 p.m. on a Wednesday afternoon. There was an empty can of Modelo Especial under a tree next to the sand volleyball court.In other news, what's the difference between jam and jelly?The answer: I can't jelly my dick up your ass.The Breaking News motto: Much is Fascinating.