Saturday, January 14, 2006

hostile takeover

I’m waking up. The sun is out there. The temps are hovering in the thirties. There’s no question. It’s a day for rescuing the prairie.

We show up late on the Ice Age trail, north of Madison. You’re supposed to be eager and raring to clip and prune at 9. At 8:30 I’m still tampering with my stove-top espresso maker and stuffing granola into a baggie.

By the time we arrive at the designated meeting place, the gung-ho types have long gunned up to the savannah grasslands, sheers and all. We kind of take it slowly. I mean, such a beautiful day! I munch granola, take a photo or two.

Half a dozen eager prairie rescuers are ready to clip around the Trail.

It’s mostly honeysuckle and cherry we want to get rid of.

Honeysuckle and cherry? Sounds pretty to me. I planted honeysuckle and cherry trees in my yards of the past. What do I know.

So clip it low to the ground and paint it blue.

Are we even making a dent? Looks hopeless to me. Lots of clumpy things up and down the hill.

These stumps? They’re cedar stumps. We got rid of those last year.

So I wonder if cedar is a bad tree. I guess so. I'm so uninformed. But I do indeed want to see the prairie restored. I like the idea of pushing back excess growth and finding flowers again.

Come out in May. You’ll see the fruits of your labors: violets and shooting stars everywhere.


Someone else will have to witness the fruits of my labors. I’m on the other side of the ocean then.



Jan 06 210
into the sun: looking down from the Ice Age trail


Jan 06 211
into the sun: gold and blue


Jan 06 231
driving back: farmland and one old house


Jan 06 235
rewarding hard work: blueberry cheesecake at Sophia's

1 comment:

  1. It's hard to believe that those photos were taken in mid-January in Wisconsin. The colors remind me of Autumn.

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