Oklahoma — 2012 — The 21st Century Matriarch

There is a hint of desert in the yellow plains, a measure of openness and the suggestions of surprises. - The Kookaburras' Song: Exploring Animal Behavior in Australia, 1st Edition

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This quote is from a book about Australia but it could just as easily be about ‘yellow plains’ anywhere in the world.

I am familiar with the yellow plains in North America. The ones that I think of first are the seemingly endless fields of ripe wheat. The wind ripples through the grain creating waves and eddies that are visible nearby but further away the eye smoothes the vision. The vastness of the wheat field is the same as the fastness of the blue sky above. Both appear infinite. And so it is that anything that breaks the monotony of the field or the sky will be a surprise - a hawk…a row of telephone poles…a combine beginning the harvest. You notice these things more when the background is just the wheat and the sky.

The other area is the high plains of the Texas Panhandle where scrubby grass grows. It is green when the rains come but turns to a straw yellow when it is dry. In this land there are miles and miles of very flat land broken only by the highway and the yucca along the fence rows. There may be some occasional cows and derelict grain elevators along railroad tracks. And then, the biggest surprise of all, Palo Duro Canyon.

Do you have images of ‘yellow plains’ in your memories…what were surprises for you?

Spoons, shot glasses or mugs are popular mementoes of travel. I've chosen earrings. They don't have the state or country name emblazoned on them...but they bring back good memories quite well. Some other advantages they have as mementoes:

they're small so easy to pack
they're relatively inexpensive, and
I get reminded of a travel adventure every time I wear them!

Some of my favorites are shown below.

From Bandelier National Monument in New Mexico in the past decade...but also reminding me of earlier visits. The first was in the 1970s.

From the Black Hills of South Dakota more than a decade ago. It was an early summer visit: baby buffalo, pink granite outcrops, pine pollen dust everywhere, delicate crystals in a cave, gold mine.

From Corning and Ithaca, New York. Many trips in the past 5 years.

From Falling Water (Frank Lloyd Wright house) in Pennsylvania. It was a road trip taken when my daughter was learning to drive - a stop on the homeward bound part of the loop.

From a very short visit to Key West, Florida with my sister. We were late driving down from Fort Lauderdale but the drive back across the causeway the next afternoon was glorious.

From a quick trip tour of Phoenix, Arizona. It was one of the few times I took an afternoon to tour before catching a plane home from a business meeting. These were from the Heard Museum.