On the Banks of Peace Creek

Laura Ingalls Wilder may have lived on the banks of Plum Creek, but she's not the only prairie girl who finds beauty along a creek bed.

Rains have greened the landscape of our part of the world. We got another 0.40" of rain overnight, bringing our total for the past week or so up to 5.90." At the danger of sounding like the never-satisfied-with-the-weather farmer, we'd really like to start banking a little of that moisture for the dog days of August in Kansas. But that's not the way it works, so I might as well enjoy the beauty all the rain has brought to our little part of the world.

For one, it gave me the opportunity to complete my own version of "The Four Seasons." No, I'm not starting a Motown group or rewriting a classical symphony. I've been trying to capture the four seasons from a bridge over Peace Creek on 4th Street. I've been waiting for a day with beautiful clouds to go along with the green landscape. I found it on the way home from Hutchinson last Thursday evening.

Here's a shot from this winter.

 

Here, the landscape is painted with the goldenrod of fall ...

... and here's a pastoral scene from August.

(I'm never satisfied. I need to broaden the summer view to make it look more similar to the others. But summer is coming, so I'll get another chance.)

Yesterday morning, the sun peeked out from the clouds for a little while, so I drove down to the bridge at the Peace Creek pasture, where we feed cattle during the winter.

The water was up there, too, after all the rains.

This location has been the site for plenty of photos through the years, too, but I don't know that it has ever looked more vibrant.

No matter whether I looked to the west toward our pasture ...

... or to the east, as Peace Creek flowed through a neighbor's pasture, the beauty was undeniable. Yes, all the rain may keep us from completing all the tasks that are on the mental list, but it's hard to complain about moisture after years of drought.

Lyle, Kathy & Randy

Randy took the opportunity to travel yesterday with his sister and her two girls to visit his brother. I got this photo on my phone last night. I stayed home to go to doctor's appointments and meetings that were scheduled long before the last-minute trip. But I wish I was with them to go to Mount Rushmore today. I'll just have to be satisfied with my view from the banks of Peace Creek.

Snowflakes & Seasons

Taken Saturday afternoon

A Time to Think

The wonder of a single snowflake outweighs
 the wisdom of a million meteorologists.
–Sir Francis Bacon, philosopher

When I say "the four seasons," some may think of a singing group and others about a famous hotel. But I think about Kansas. The weekend's snow gave me a chance to capture the beauty of the winter season at Peace Creek.

The snow provided some Andrew Wyeth-painting-worthy scenes as we went to check cattle Saturday after lunch. Even though we didn't get the deluge of snow that the meteorologists were predicting, it gave me the chance to add to my four seasons photo portfolios.

As I posted last month, I added a snow scene to one of my favorite Manhattan locations. But, upon reflection, I realized I probably had more local four seasons shots in the literally thousands of photos I have on the computer.

In this Peace Creek montage, I am again one season short of the "full house" or, in this case, a full "creek." (For locals, this is the view from the bridge at 4th Street Road,  just east of the county line.)

To my winter scenes from the weekend ...

These two were taken late afternoon on Sunday.

 I can add the goldenrod-framed shot from the fall ...

... and a pastoral scene from August for my summer scene.

Spring is coming, even though it doesn't seem much like it after this weekend of snow and cold. And I'll be ready - in more ways than one!