Remembering Who We Are… 4

Ice to Dust to Grass to Fire

by Janet Roney

The phrase, “Fly-over country”, often heard these days, implies that there’s nothing much to see in the Midwest, Moultrie’s home. Mile after mile of corn and bean fields do not inspire the uninformed.  

Poor things! Any fool can see that the majestic Rocky Mountains or the peaceful sea shores are beautiful, but mountains and our continent’s edges are barriers, too. In contrast, on the Illinois prairie, the “sky’s the limit”. The prairie’s beautiful vastness is liberating and inspiring. It feels like you can see forever and go on forever. When your vision is limitless, anything seems possible.   

Early settlers described the virgin prairie as an endless green ocean with wind-blown waves rolling across its surface. Today, the prairie’s vast beauty is enhanced by its close-up details…the occasional patches of prairie grasses and flowers hiding in ditches along its roadsides and railroads, the cattle grazing in isolated oak and walnut tree savannahs edged with blooming wild plum, or the neat farmsteads that dot the landscape.    

    Login or Subscribe to read the rest of this story.