October Surprise
1) October Surprise
2) Field Notebook:
3) Nature, Kids & Mental Health
4) Fall Kids on the Prairie: Year 2
5) Prairie Fest #9 News
6) October Spirits
7) Prairie Proverb
1) October Surprise
September 30; 6 pm; Walking aimlessly through the far flung corners of Tandy Hills Natural Area with Olive the Prairie Dog; Until a much-needed rain shower a few days before, not much had changed here since August. The September prairie looked a lot like the August prairie: Hot and dry. The dried seed pods, stems and leaves of Missouri Primrose, Yucca and Compassplant at my feet remind that Spring is long gone.
But today, under a clear blue sky with a gentle breeze blowing, Tandy Hills reveals its Autumnal nature to be as mystical as Spring. A sweeping landscape of Little Bluestem grass, Indian grass and several varieties of Grama grass blanket the hills in thick vertical stands, full of seeds that light up golden in the fading sunlight. Fall-blooming, Purple Spangletop grass fills the seams between the hills with their characteristic panache.
Maximilian Sunflower, Gayfeather, Giant Blue Sage, Two-leaved Senna and other wildflowers, add their colorful voices to this Autumnal symphony that sways to the rhythm of leggy, delicately flowered, False Gaura.
October wildlife surprises abound. A Coopers Hawk glides serenely overhead as swarms of small butterflies, dragonflies, damselflies and bees scatter in the grass as I walk by. Seeking shelter, the first Skink I've seen in several years slithers into a crack in the Earth. Punctuating the pastoral scene, a contingent of Mexico-bound Monarch butterflies feed silently above the Gayfeather flowers that turn ultra violet in dusks fading light.
The October Surprises waiting for you at Tandy Hills may not influence your vote but it might change you life. Mother Nature's October version of Spring has begun at your local prairie. Come on in and be surprised.
DY