The Music of the Prairie by Glenn Fell

I walk step by step
And big blue stem
Rises tall and thick, turkey foot
Swaying in the Kansas wind
Bowing, then golden rod and Indian grass, anthers yellow,
Mix into the prairie meadow dance
And I stop and breathe it in
And we’re joined by little blue, switchgrass and blue sage,
Sideoats grama appears and the sound of
Crickets and cicadas vibrate the air,
And I am undone,
My spirit floats amidst the life around me,
Breathing, feeding, from dark soil,
Warm sun, rain water,
I step on to limestone
And see a blazing star
Bush clover and rose verbena
And wild blue indigo, rigid goldenrod,
Boneset,
It’s a prairie symphony
And my prairie friends and I hear the music all around us,
It’s oh so clear,
Swirled by the wind
And a slab of limestone
With perfect pocket prairies
Dotting its surface
Is in the audience
With tufts of tallgrasses standing straight
Against a background of purple prairie clover
And pale purple coneflower
Long gone to seed and they all
Applaud with flair and color.



This poem and others can be found in the Grassland Heritage Foundation newsletters archived at www.grasslandheritage.org

GHF is on Facebook!

If you're reading this, then you probably already know that Grassland Heritage Foundation is now on Facebook. We invite you to look through the information on the Facebook page and if you're interested in supporting one of the biggest greenhouse gas consumers, Native Tallgrass Prairie, let us hear from you! We're always looking for volunteers to help with our Learning Labs and to maintain our beautiful Snyder Prairie.

Enjoy the photos on our blog, and if you want to see more, go to Angie Babbit's GHF flickr page by clicking on the image above.

The tornado didn't stop this party

Grassland Heritage Foundation celebrated the contributions of members, volunteers and friends at Amy and Randy Carlson's old barn.

Steve Hinrich and Chris Biggs provided entertaining music, and many door prizes were awarded, including handmade notecards, Prairie Center t-shirts and Doug Guess's book "Walking the Prairie."

Thanks to everyone who came out and endured the tornado sirens in the basement of the barn, and to Rachel Myslivy for collecting names and organizing the door prizes.  Thanks especially to Amy and Randy for throwing a great party!