The Glories of the "Grand Prairie"
by Cathy Grafton on 09/18/11This weekend, I traveled some of what was known as the "Grant Prairie" which is an area from eastern Illinois stretching into western Indiana and ending just outside Lafayette. At the Purdue Agricultural Center, there is a stone marking this edge, from here east was forest, mostly anyway, heading east. From this point west was - a large unbroken area of especially flat prairie, only minimally crossed by rivers, streams and creeks. It was known as the Grant Prairie - I always though it sounded so romantic, but it is just flatter than many other places in Illinois.
However, it is very romantic and quite lovely this time of year, because the roadways I traveled were lines with wildflowers and bits of prairie here and there. The colors right now are heading deep into fall - the sumac is turning red, the prairie sunflowers are standing tall and yellow, there are shades of purple, dark red, golden brown and the thistles have turned dusty and prickly looking as they dry out. Big blue stem and Indian grass wave in the wind and give a feathery look to the roadways. Milk weed pods are releasing their seeds to float in the air, and very soon as harvest gets truly under way, there will be floating corn husks drifting out of the fields. The corn and soybean fields are looking dry and rustle with every breeze - yes, fall is here.
One of the best things about the Grand Prairie - is how it shows off the sky, clouds float as in a glass done when I left. I drove home tonight under heavy grey clouds and rain much of the way, but this morning we had a glorious sunrise just under some light rain clouds, followed by an early morning rainbow - a great way to start the day.
I spent the weekend in the mid- 1700's at the Koh Koh Mah festival, but that is a story for another day.
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