North view from my house in December. |
Subject to human failings like everyone else, I sometimes forget to look past the mildewed phlox and the blackspot on the roses and the burning August days and see the beauty that is everywhere around me on the prairie. Thankfully, I am constantly reminded that one cannot live in the Kansas Flint Hills without eventually realizing that our gardens are but a minor fraction of the glory going on all around us. Whether it's the drying hay bales to feed winter stock that have been rolled up from the bountiful prairie, or whether its the fall russets that the prairie grasses take on, occasionally, just occasionally, the hues of the earth and sky come together to create a picture that one may capture in a few digital pixels, but can only dream of creating. Fall rain washes the dust off the grasses and the moisture makes the dull brown grasses turn red to meet the changing of seasons. Eventually, the prairie tones itself to compliment the wide sky in autumn.
The heat will break. Fall is coming. Have a restful Sunday, one and all!
The heat will break. Fall is coming. Have a restful Sunday, one and all!
We've driven through the Flint Hills a couple of times, many years ago. Very striking, I remember.
ReplyDeleteI like the rest of the poem as well,
For the beauty of the earth,
For the beauty of the sky,
For the love which from our birth
Over and around us lies,
Lord of all to thee we raise,
This our hymn of grateful praise.
Gean