- Although they weren’t written about a prairie, these hopeful words from J. R. R. Tolkien’s The Fellowship of the Ring, part of “The Lord of the Rings” epic trilogy, seem especially fitting.
- All that is gold does not glitter,
- Not all those who wander are lost,
The old that is strong does not wither,
- Deep roots are not reached by the frost.
- From the ashes a fire shall be woken
- A light from the shadows shall spring;
- Renewed shall be blade that was broken,
- The crownless again shall be king.
All photographs copyright Cindy Crosby (top to bottom): October on the Schulenberg Prairie, The Morton Arboretum, Lisle, IL; full moon over author’s backyard prairie patch, Glen Ellyn, IL; grasses at Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Refuge, San Antonio, New Mexico; visitors to Autumn on the Prairie, Nachusa Grasslands, Franklin Grove, IL; common milkweed (Asclepias syriaca) east side prairie planting, The Morton Arboretum, Lisle, IL; wild lettuce (Lactuca virosa), Schulenberg Prairie, The Morton Arboretum, Lisle, IL; prairie grasses in the early morning fog, Hidden Lake Forest Preserve, Forest Preserve of DuPage County, Downer’s Grove, IL; pasque flowers (Pulsatilla patens) blooming after the prescribed burn, Schulenberg Prairie, The Morton Arboretum, Lisle, IL: prairie smoke (Geum triflorum) blooming after a prescribed burn, Meadow Lake, The Morton Arboretum, Lisle, IL; blue dasher dragonfly on ashy sunflower (Helianthus mollis), Schulenberg Prairie, The Morton Arboretum, Lisle, IL; eastern amberwing dragonfly, Schulenberg Prairie, The Morton Arboretum, Lisle, IL: eastern prairie fringed orchid (Platanthera leucophaea) Nachusa Grasslands, Franklin Grove, IL; bison at Nachusa Grasslands, Franklin Grove, IL.
Quote is from The Fellowship of the Ring, from “The Lord of the Rings” trilogy by J.R.R. Tolkien.