Starlight

The Llano Estacado never ceases to surprise. After yesterday’s nearly eighty degree spring day, temperatures retreat into the fifties. Overcast skies menace the southern horizon. Rain clouds race to smother a sliver of sunrise colors along the Texas border to the east. The gray canopy spits droplets and ignores the need for a generous deluge. 

Cooper and I slip into the prairie amidst meadow lark melodies. The brisk morning air buoys our enthusiasm and hastens our footloose advance. The prairie appears lifeless, until the meager blush of sunlight sends blithe rays dancing across her bosom. The warm hues briefly highlight numerous bunches of star-shaped False Boneset calices. Images of twinkling starlight come to mind. Collectively, the shimmering clusters evoke illusions of far-off galaxies spinning in a universe of grass. Splashes of amber Trompillo berries rival distant planets and moons. They dangle from long since dry stems of Silver Leaf Nightshade skeletons. The tiny lanterns joyously proclaim the dawn of a new day.

© Ilija Lukić 2012

Starlight (False Boneset)

Trompillo Moons (Silver Leaf Nightshade)

Tentative Spring (Siberian Elms)