Driving Colorado

Pawnee Grasslands, CO

We drove back to Ft. Collins, CO from Nebraska along Highway 14, which passed through the Pawnee Grasslands.  This sea of short prairie grass and wide open spaces gave one a feeling of expansiveness and timelessness.

Colorado Highway 14

Hay bales (edited photo)

Snow fence

Snow fence

We saw wide open prairie, wind farms, feedlots, and snow fences.

“Snow Fence”
by Ted Kooser, from Flying at Night: Poems 1965 – 1985

The red fence
takes the cold trail
north; no meat
on its ribs,
but neither has it
much to carry.

Fence posts capped by cow skulls

Abandoned house along Hwy 14, CO

Country road with Rockies in the distance, Colorado

Distant Rocky Mountains, nearing sunset

 

The Harvest Ends Its Busy Reign

Hay bales in the field, Skagit Valley

“Thus harvest ends its busy reign
And leaves the fields their peace again
Where autumn’s shadows idly muse
And tinge the trees with many hues.”
— John Clare, “The Shepherd’s Calendar”

Successful marshmallow harvest!!

The final hay harvest of the year

I was captivated by this Skagit Valley field in the late afternoon light.  The plastic-wrapped round hay bales look so much like giant marshmallows!  Delightful!