It’s a scary world out there, as this past week has shown.
If you need a lift for your spirits…
…a reminder that the world is beautiful, as well as broken, if we have eyes to see.
A promise that the future can be unexpectedly joy-filled,
And that there is hope for change.
Come take a walk with me in the tallgrass.
For a few moments, rest your mind from all the violence and ugliness.
Think about the color and life that even now, is all around you if you look for it.
Some of it loud, pink, and glorious.
Some of it quiet and nuanced.
Do a little soul restoration,
while contemplating prairie restoration.
Better yet, when you’re done reading this–
Go for a walk on the prairie, and let your spirit soak up the quiet of the natural world.
Whatever frame of mind these words and images find you in…
I wish you a moment of quiet reflection. A rest from the chaos.
Peace.
All photos copyright Cindy Crosby (top to bottom): compass plant buds broken by a weevil (Silphium laciniatum and Haplorhynchites aeneus), Schulenberg Prairie, The Morton Arboretum, Lisle, IL; ; Halloween pennant (Celithemis eponina), Schulenberg Prairie, The Morton Arboretum, Lisle, IL; buckeye butterfly (Junonia coenia) Schulenberg Prairie, The Morton Arboretum, Lisle, IL; American bullfrog in Willoway Brook (Lithobates catesbeianus) Schulenberg Prairie, The Morton Arboretum, Lisle, IL; bison calf (Bison bison) on the July prairie, Nachusa Grasslands, The Nature Conservancy, Franklin Grove, IL; the Schulenberg Prairie in July, The Morton Arboretum, Lisle, IL; chicory (Cichorium intybus) Schulenberg Prairie, The Morton Arboretum, Lisle, IL; compass plant (Silphium lanciniatum), Schulenberg Prairie, The Morton Arboretum, Lisle, IL; queen of the prairie (Filipendula rubra) East Side prairie planting, The Morton Arboretum, Lisle, IL; purple prairie clover (Dalea purpurea) and a bee (species unknown) Schulenberg Prairie, The Morton Arboretum, Lisle, IL; Michigan lily (Lilium michiganense), Schulenberg Prairie, The Morton Arboretum, Lisle, IL; flowering spurge (Euphorbia corollata), Schulenberg Prairie, The Morton Arboretum, Lisle, IL; prairie parsley (Polytaenia nuttallii) going to seed, Schulenberg Prairie, The Morton Arboretum, Lisle, IL; bison herd (Bison bison), Nachusa Grasslands, The Nature Conservancy, Franklin Grove, IL; bottle brush grass (Elymus hystrix), savanna, The Morton Arboretum, Lisle, IL.
Tuesdays in the Tallgrass 