Prairie Sunset

Summer is over on the prairie.  I'm afraid I didn't get much blogging done these past months--busy with other things.  I'll do better next year.  The late summer grass was especially pretty.  The native prairie grass is finally taking over from the European interloper farmer's planted years ago.  This is a transition time.  Late afternoon was comfortably in the 60's with a south breeze.  Now, two hours later, the north wind has brought temperatures sinking through the 30's.  Happy Fall and happy Thanksgiving.  Love the Kansas prairie!

Prairie Flowers

No more snow.  Spring has a firm grip on the prairie.  Still no buffalo, but the prairie grasses are getting taller and the flowers are beginning to bloom.  The cool, wet spring is perfect for shrubs and flowers and I expect it to be a showy year.  Yarrow and poppies are out now, along with many others, and the cone flowers, blanket flowers, and black-eyed susans will be blooming shortly.

Cleaning Up

Working on the prairie can be hot and dirty.  When it's time to clean up do it the prairie way.  Use some of the very unique products from FoamOnTheRange.  You will be clean and smell like the prairie!

Blueberries on the Prairie

Prairie people have to eat.  So, since the buffalo are gone, blueberries are in order.  Acquiring and preparing a buffalo might be easier than planting blueberries, especially in a cold north wind!  Don't see the blueberries?  Well, they are more spindly than a buffalo.  Check back for updates.

First Day of Spring

Nature can be cruel! Notice the buffalo are still absent. Wise buffalo.

Spring

Thunder and lightning, the peepers peeping, new growth underneath last year's dried leaves; it must be spring!

Wind

On the prairie nothing nothing stays put.  The wind blows all the time.  Trees lean to the north.  North winds don't have much effect on trees because they tend to not have leaves when the north winds blow and the wind just whistles through.  But in the summer, when the south wind can get a push on the leaves, the trees get bent north.  Many prairie seeds are covered in fuzz like the familiar cottonwood or any of the wonderful native grasses.  What better to spread yourself around than to weigh almost nothing and be covered in fuzz, flying along in the prairie wind.  Even the buffalo moved with the wind.  Putting their backs to it they moved south to warmer climes with the cold north winds, and north in the summer ahead of the hot south wind.

On the prairie the wind is our constant companion, and it blows fiercely, dependably, and relentlessly. They say some of the pioneer women used to go mad because of the wind. Its relentless howling unnerved those unprepared for its rigors.  I guess the men just drank.