Just Add Water

A reminder of the prairie's color - just add moisture!

This winter's mild weather has been something of a phenomenon in northeast Kansas. It has seemed like early November since... early November. Yesterday, the 69 degree weather was a siren call to everyone on two wheels, from mopeds to Harleys. I always turn to look when I hear a big twin engine coming down the street. I cannot help myself. For a fleeting instant, it always feels as if someone I love is coming home. Of course, these days it is usually an old graybeard (someone my age) on his first Harley. I can always tell how long someone has been riding by how soon they put their feet down when coming to a stop. The sooner they put down their feet, the fewer the road miles.

But that is not what I genuinely want to write about this morning. Due to this lengthy dry and mild weather, the prairie has lost her color. The hills are a grayish dead wherever you look. On the way to the barn there are clumps of individual plants that still retain their reddish hue. This might be from the various holes in the water hose, now that I think about it. As drab and as lifeless as the prairie looks now, it will only take a small amount of moisture to revive her and restore the colors.

I was looking for something to post today and revisited these early November photographs. The first was taken from my road. It is the pasture just to the east of mine. The second one, taken the same day, was the view from the shoulder of Interstate 70. (It was not an emergency stop - I am such an old anarchist!) I had forgotten about the orb in the highway photo. Some people believe orbs are spirits, paranormal evidence, but most people say they are simply artifacts of digital photography. Whatever their cause, they do have an ephemeral quality. To me, it looks like the moon untethered and freely roaming the prairie.