Summer Arrives in the Flint Hills

Public domain photo of the Konza Prairie
It is well on the way to summer now in Kansas. The hot, humid weather makes doing anything outdoors unpleasant. For anyone but kids, who can spend these hot days in the swimming pool, it is the beginning of hell. Any kind of physical exertion can easily become a dangerous endeavor. I dread this time of year but it is also the most beautiful time in the Flint Hills. The prairie bursts forth in luxurious green. Trees abundantly clothe themselves in dense foliage. The faintest breath of a breeze can no longer hide as the supple grasses and tender leaves wave at the lightest touch.

In early spring, the landscape is the same shade of emerald green. As each individual plant grows according to its genetic instruction, its soil conditions and access to sunlight, the sea of green takes on variation and texture. By the end of the summer, there are ten thousand shades of green. I take great delight in the almost infinite spectrum of greens. The riotous generosity of nature's growing season is a metaphor for the abundant blessing of the Creator. Perhaps nature is the Creator.

Born and raised on the prairies of Kansas, my entire life has been lived beneath the all-encompassing skies, defined by the gently rolling horizon, colored by the blue sky rising forever above the sea of green. The heat of summer is a small price to pay.