We are heading into that time of year when the countryside is reaching its most lush and opulent state, when the grasses of the prairie shimmer and shake, and the wildflowers thrill us with their boldest colors. It’s the period of full summer.
To walk the prairie at this time of year is euphoria-inducing. All the most common plants (which in our yard we’d call weeds) combine and recombine in tableaux of great delicacy.
Queen Anne’s lace, chicory, goldenrod, and thistles teem with myriad nameless others, blooming in profusion or in solitude. Superfine grass forms a bed like gauze around one edge of the prairie. The closer you look, the more you see.
I marvel at the lushness of the plant life, its superabundance and beauty. The intricate forms and patterns of the prairie go so far beyond science, far beyond our knowledge. Their logic, even to the Indians, was a mystery.
Go to the prairie and you’ll discover. The earth furnishes treasures far beyond our need.
