A Good Tired

I'm tired. But it's a good tired.

Today I got up early to brave the cold and the wind and collect seeds for a local preserve who is working to replant prairie around here. Here is what I experienced in a nut shell.

Prairie grasses do block the wind to a degree, but the grasses also get in your face, poke your eyes and go up your nose.

Mountain Mint, Nodding Wild Onion, and Drop Seed are all plants that are native to a prairie ecosystem and they all have really tiny seeds.

When in the prairie it is possible to see lots of deer and pick out a flock of cranes flying overhead.

It is possible to lose yourself in the middle of a sea of golden grass that is taller than your head.

I'm really good at focusing on finding one plant species...until I'm not. My short attention span gets in the way! And when you're out in the prairie there are dozens of plants surrounding you all the time and it's easy to lose focus! And then my mind starts to wander and then I forget what I'm doing and then I remember and have to retrain my eyes for the one kind of plant I'm looking for.

Being in the middle of a prairie only 30 minutes from Chicago is totally possible. And with the exception of the traffic pollution, you think that you're in the middle of no where. It's amazing.

Looking up and realizing you can't see anyone in your work group anymore is a semi nerve wracking event.

Spending a day with my Frisbee friends outside of actually playing Frisbee is a wonderful thing and I hope to keep it up!

Going out into a large field, getting outside, enjoying a brisk fall/winter morning, becoming one with nature, collecting seeds that will go to restart another prairie, is an awesome thing.