landscapes

A field of summer

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It’s a true summer’s day –  blue sky above with white patchy clouds, and the sun is beating down with its warmth.  We are driving along some county roads in northern Wisconsin.  We’ve passed fields of green soybeans and acres of corn, all thriving in spite of the late planting season and the copious amounts of rain this year.  But up ahead is a bright and welcome sight — at an intersection there is a sea of yellow on one side of the road.  It stretches off to the trees in the distance, and it is a glorious field of sunflowers.  Faces to the east, backlit by the sun, the large blossoms are nodding in the wind.  To me this is the epitome of summer, and I’ll soak it in to remember during the not-so-summery days that lie ahead.

A road trip through wide open spaces

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We took a road trip from Minnesota to Utah a few weeks ago — a journey filled with adventures, family, and changing scenery and weather.  We  went from the agriculture of southern Minnesota to the Black Hills of South Dakota, to the Sandhills of Nebraska, to the open ranches of Wyoming, to the snow capped mountains of Utah.  The variety of landscapes always amazes me, especially when you condense the journey over a few days.  Many of the areas were unusually green because of the higher amounts of rain that have fallen.  Fields and hills were looking quite lush, except for those areas (especially in Nebraska) that are still trying to recover from flooding earlier this year.  Surprisingly we encountered little rain during our trip, but we did endure 40-45 mph winds across Wyoming, and we slept a few times with the furnace on and a couple of times with the air conditioner on.  A quick trip such as this makes me appreciate the beauty and diversity of our country; how fortunate to be able to take it all in!

Nebraska from a bicycle seat

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We recently spent a week bicycling across Nebraska with the BRAN (Bicycle Ride across Nebraska).  It was a wonderful adventure filled with amazing scenery, a diverse topography, the most genial and friendly people, and sunshine!  We started in Chadron (west side of the state) and ended in Fremont (east side of the state).  Our 400+ miles of  travel took us through the Sandhills of Nebraska, fields of corn in the agricultural area, and the rolling hills of the eastern side as we were closer to the rivers.  The flooding the state has dealt with this spring was evident as we saw washouts along the Elkhorn River and standing water in so many fields.  We are appreciative of the people who welcomed us in their towns and were so generous with their Nebraskan hospitality.  To me, a bicycle ride is the perfect way to see and appreciate the landscape, terrain, and people — it’s as upclose an experience as you can get on a journey along highways and biways.

End of a spring day

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It had been a windy and cloudy day, but as the evening wore on the wind began to die down.  We were fishing as the air became still.  Eagles were flying overhead and the crappies were biting.  The dark clouds were still above but the sun moved below them lighting up the opposite shore.  The leaves were full on some of the trees and yet others had only begun to leaf out, filtering the sunlight as it came through the trees.  The low light and the calmness created a beautiful reflection of the end of a spring (finally!) day.

Prescribed wildfire burn

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We were exploring at the Namekagon Barrens Wildlife Area this past weekend.  Located in Burnett County in northwestern Wisconsin, this is a globally rare landscape of pine and oak with a very sandy soil.  It’s quite startling to see the Barrens after driving miles through forested land; all of a sudden the sky opens up and the vista is wide with rolling hills and a prairie-like view.  The ground near the road was black where there had been a prescribed burn the day before, and the air had a pronounced smell of smoke.  After about 20 minutes, we saw smoke to the east and found they were doing some spot fires to finish what had been started the day before.  I’m excited to return to the area in the next week or so — the grass will be turning green with our recent rains, and soon the wildflowers will sprout and bloom.