That's What I've Been Waiting On!

Finally, Finally, Finally.   After ProfessorRoush tired of the summer heat, long past the excitements and enticements of Spring, he has long been dreaming of the moment when the weather turned more seasonable and the weeds ceased to grow; dreaming of Fall.  He's been emotionally salivating, in fact, over the taller-than usual prairie grasses and their potential fall parade of color as the excess rain (in comparison to the average for this region of Kansas) and temperate Fall climate kept them growing.  

I've resisted mowing down the adjacent prairie for weeks, particularly those native areas that I maintain as "rain gardens", just so I could enjoy their ochre and umber tones, which are particularly vivid when dampened by seasonal moisture.  I've waited through a several week dry spell for the rains to make the prairie "pop", to make the Big and Little Bluestem shine like fires among the tans of the Switchgrass and other species, and to fully develop the contrasting seedheads for the display and for the prairie critters.  On Friday, my wait was over.  

And the pictures here are my reward for waiting, my dividend for purposeful procrastination.  Normally, I mow (or "bush-hog") these areas early in Fall, to move the yard perimeter away from the house, simultaneously distancing the house and barn and garden from invasion by packrats and rabbits and deer.  Looking at these, however, make me determined to leave the tall grasses, the native prairie grasses, untouched until the hard freezes rob them of color.  Autumn prolonged by design, as it were.  Do you agree?