Wisconsin Interlude—1
September 27, 2021
David and I drove to Madison, Wisconsin, last week to visit my daughter, her wife, and their friends. We spent a fair amount of time outdoors (when we weren’t playing Rummikub indoors).
1 Two of the friends live on land surrounded by the University of Wisconsin–Madison Arboretum. They have enhanced their property in many ways, including by planting this Japanese maple.
2 We arrived there just as the sun began sinking.
3 The Buddha seems content on their land.
4 One day we drove to the driftless area.
5 Another day we visited some U–W-owned land being developed into a proper prairie. This view is looking from the prairie to the surrounding countryside.
6 The path we followed was lined with Big Bluestem grass (Andropogon gerardiiI).
7 But other grasses were present, including this unidentified kind.
8 And these.
9 The variety of prairie plant life was remarkable.
10 Some Goldenrod (Asteraceae) and New England Asters (Symphyotrichum novae-angliae) were in flower.
11 Notice all the white objects in the previous photograph? This is what one looks like up close. They are seed heads of something that is not a Goldenrod, says David. But even he didn’t know what they were.
12 The prairie is on the fringes of Wisconsin’s driftless area, known for rock outcroppings . . .
13 . . . and caves.
14 Not far away is farmland owned by a cousin of another of my daughter’s friends.
15 Grazing dairy cows still conjure peaceful feelings in many of us.
16 With climate change—as Alexander Kunz reminds us in a recent blog post—those feelings may alter.
17 Rolling fields of corn—a sign for me that I have reached Wisconsin—once made me think of succulent corn on the cob. Now I know that most corn grown in the US goes to feed beef cattle. Do read Alex’s thoughtful post.
Romancing Reality 