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Back to My Roots – Prairie Grasses

June 26, 2013 by 8 Comments
Little Bluestem

Little Bluestem © 2013 Bo Mackison

I like to think of landscape not as a fixed placed but as a path that is unwinding before my eyes, under my feet.  ~ Gretel Ehrlich, in introduction to Legacy of Light (1987)

Redtop - Wisconsin Prairie

Redtop in Wisconsin Prairie © 2013 Bo Mackison

I must confess that I have a weakness of empty places. ~ Tony Hillerman in Travelers’ Tales American Southwest (2001)

I don’t think of prairies (or deserts, for that matter) as empty places.

I see them as open spaces, places where the eye can travel without abrupt barriers, where the land offers opportunity for connection, not a dis-connect.

Little Bluestem - Wisconsin Prairie

Little Bluestem in Wisconsin Prairie © 2013 Bo Mackison

. . . Fitting floor / For this magnificent temple of the sky. . .  ~ William Cullen Bryant (1866, “The Prairies”)

I like to walk in the prairie landscape, in the desert landscape, and be able to see in the distance.

Not distance from a mountain top – there is no easy access to walk the landscape spread before me from a mountain peak – though the view from mountain top is exhilarating, awe-provoking.

No, my preference is to see the distant landscape, and know it is under my feet as well as beyond my gaze.

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Bo Mackison is a photographer and owner of Seeded Earth Studio LLC.  She is getting re-acquainted with the prairie and grasslands in preparation for the next set of Wisdom Cards.

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About Bo Mackison

I'm a photographer, book-artist, traveler, naturalist, and creator of the Contemplative Creatives Journey, An Online Workshop and Community and Desert Wisdom Cards and Workshops. Though often not well known, I find the desert a welcoming place - a healing space. Its mysteries and gifts transformed me several years ago. Since that first encounter, I return again and again to fill my well in what most people think of as a desolate region. I'd love to share my desert discoveries and wisdom with you. Please subscribe to receive my five part mini email course The Gifts of the Desert. It's my gift to you.

Comments

  1. Gandalf says
    June 26, 2013 at 12:16 pm

    Wonderful images of these grasses.

    Reply
  2. Susan Vial says
    June 26, 2013 at 12:53 pm

    These grasses remind me of the simple lines in cacti. Quite beautiful!

    Reply
  3. Steve Schwartzman says
    June 26, 2013 at 9:22 pm

    When I was growing up in the suburbs of New York everybody spoke of the places that hadn’t yet been developed as vacant lots. Now, as a nature photographer decades later, I never write the phrase without putting quotation marks around the word “vacant.”

    Reply
  4. Montucky says
    June 26, 2013 at 11:03 pm

    Very nice shots, Bo!

    Reply
  5. Joanna Paterson says
    June 27, 2013 at 1:05 am

    Just so beautiful Bo. The words, and your images… they go hand in hand, that feeling of love and connection

    Reply
  6. Marcie says
    June 29, 2013 at 9:52 am

    These are absolutely stunning…magical!! Love..love…love!

    Reply
  7. Robin says
    July 3, 2013 at 3:02 am

    These are gorgeous images. ♥

    Reply
  8. Debi says
    July 3, 2013 at 12:46 pm

    “Fitting floor/for this magnificent temple of the sky.” What a line! How perfect. These grass images are stunning. I, too, love the desert and vast prairies. Each are fascinating in their own right. Every detail begs inspection, and you do that so very well. LOVELY post and amazingly beautiful images. I can feel this one in my chest, it’s so rich…

    Reply

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