Cooper and I slide into the prairie just after daybreak. Uniformly somber skies devoid of cloud patterns sprinkle light mists onto the slumbering Llano Estacado. The meager moisture does nothing to mitigate the ravages of drought in the bone dry environs. With air temperatures below the freezing point, weather conditions are ripe for transforming the bleak landscape into a land of enchantment.
The first to show appreciation of the damp breath of winter are the grasses. They quickly saturate and turn gray, freeze-dried hues into splendiferous rust and gold color tapestries. The freezing muzzle also starts to accentuate prairie vegetation with lucent coats of that alluring allotrope of water--ice. It dresses chollas to the nines. It modifies Wax Goldenweed skeletons into bejeweled scepters for prairie royalty. It converts cholla stems and branches into rhinestone cowboys. I pause to admire lustrous jewels of ice on rough shells of yucca pods. Their beauty amazes and energizes my spirit.
The frosty solitude seems to dampen Cooper’s urges to scamper across the prairie. His steps are deliberate. He pauses often and we listen to the whispers on the wind. They carry a message of hope and solace. This time of adversity shall pass.
© Ilija Lukić 2011
The first to show appreciation of the damp breath of winter are the grasses. They quickly saturate and turn gray, freeze-dried hues into splendiferous rust and gold color tapestries. The freezing muzzle also starts to accentuate prairie vegetation with lucent coats of that alluring allotrope of water--ice. It dresses chollas to the nines. It modifies Wax Goldenweed skeletons into bejeweled scepters for prairie royalty. It converts cholla stems and branches into rhinestone cowboys. I pause to admire lustrous jewels of ice on rough shells of yucca pods. Their beauty amazes and energizes my spirit.
The frosty solitude seems to dampen Cooper’s urges to scamper across the prairie. His steps are deliberate. He pauses often and we listen to the whispers on the wind. They carry a message of hope and solace. This time of adversity shall pass.
© Ilija Lukić 2011
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| Llano Estacado Horizon |
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| Crystal Solace |
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| Frosty Solitude (Cooper) |
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| Diamonds On The Rough |
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| Dressed To The Nines |
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| Whispers On The Wind (Cooper) |
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| Rhinestone Cowboys |
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| Ruffled Passage |
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| A Touch Of Class |
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| Bejeweled Scepter |
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| Splendiferous Straw |
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| Lucent Adversity |
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| Prairie Portal |
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| Freezing Mizzle Bath (Cooper) |
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