This field was completely green just a week before. Most of the stalks are still green, but the drying of the tops almost hides that. I use the prairie grass to tell me when the season has actually changed in Central Oklahoma; it’s now autumn here.
These images were taken on Monday’s ride to Draper. I’m sharing the ones that actually spoke to me. I wasn’t training on this ride, just feeling the world around me, existing very much in the now. During the three weeks I was training hard, it caused me to sort of wrap inside myself. I suppose I was using the opportunity to gather loose ends. That training period ended last week when I hit with the seasonal allergies that generally turn into a respiratory infection. It’s a signal to my body to prepare for different conditions. During that time, I tucked all those gathered loose ends into their proper place.
Now the riding returns to something less strenuous, less focused on the mere physical effort. I rode waiting for images in nature to call out to me. The second shows that in shallow areas, willows are a common response to a high water table. This last shot shows the same vicinity where the banks are steep and rocky. Oklahoma hasn’t a single natural lake, but thousands of dammed reservoirs like this one. This would all be open prairie with precious few trees, but with an elevated water table, the oaks dominate the landscape as they do on that far shore.
I’ll be riding more gently as weather permits and taking more pictures. The fall season has told me it wants to show me some things.
