Here is the last batch of photos from our trip out West this summer – and it is by far the most successful. Most of these pictures were taken while crossing from Colorado into Kansas.
Just for kicks, I added texture to some of these shots:
Doesn’t the texture make it look like a painting? Especially given the subject matter.
Lots of yuccas out there – this is decidedly desert-y. Soon this will be my backyard! What’s with the drought in the Midwest, I mean.
Already is, actually.
If you look closely, you will see a very faint outline of the Pike’s Peak on the horizon.
Now, this is very interesting – this, I believe, is a horned lark – the only true North-American lark, as meadowlarks are not true larks but, rather, close relatives of starlings. Listen to a starling sometime, and you will hear meadowlark notes; or look at a meadowlark and tell me if it doesn’t look like a fat, striped starling.
This here is one of my favorite shots. This was so beautiful.
The color scheme was just amazing.
There are few things more beautiful in the world than ripe, golden wheat waving in the prairie wind, whose sublime beauty matches its high purpose – to bring bread, the very stuff of life, to our tables.
Here is what it looked like without the texture. Breathtaking!
O Beautiful, for spacious skies, for amber waves of grain… Did you know that this song was inspired by this exact area?
The transcendent beautify of this landscape brings tears to my eyes.
These wide, high Western skies are like nothing else. The sky around here is not even blue – the near-100% humidity of Wisconsin summers renders of it dirty-white.
Look at this sky – so high, so open.
Yuccas everywhere! So, so dry. This is how you get that blue sky.
It was also very, very hot.
But you know what’s really disconcerting about this landscape? The distance you have to drive to get from one town to the next, let alone one with groceries.
By the time we reached this, we were desperate to find a grocery store.
The shining beacon of hope!
Cause otherwise it’s all like this for miles and miles around.
You know you are in the beef country when you come by a town named “Bovina.”
I loved the emptiness of this but… I wanted to go back to Wisconsin, the Viroqua Food Cooperative, and my own gourmet cooking! My family is used to the food of such great quality that leaving is always a huge, monumental shock.
I WANNA GO HOME!!!!!!
Here are the rest of the posts from our trip:
Viroqua and the Driftless Area of Wisconsin
Garden of the Gods, Colorado Springs
{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }
Love your blog – cant even remember how I found it!
Oh yes, I do remember! I was typing “fried potatoes Russian style” and I found a recipe! You see, I am Russian myself but I cant make that dish to save mtpy life! 
anyway, thank you! Love your photos too – it lifts my spirits! It’s rainy and miserable here in the UK so I really miss the sun!
Thanks! That is si sweet of you.