A strolling minstrel

This young man asked me to do his senior photos. I thought this one was kind of cool. It is not the one you would post in your yearbook, but I like the solitary feel of it.

A Love that endures

I normally do not put pictures of people on my blog, but I think I will start doing it more often. Especially when the people in the community I live in have a bit of a story. In the case of this couple, she lives in a nursing home because he can not care for her totally himself. But every day he is able, he goes tp pick her up and bring her home for a visit...which is almost every day. It is not a short drive. And as he makes that drive he checks in with his fellow Ham Radio Operators who know his route and his routine. They look out for him, and he looks out for her.

Peace, where you can find it

While the work I do in my day job can have some stressful moments, it cannot be said of me that I live a highly stressful life. That may be because I find peace as often as possible. Very often I find it peering through my camera lens. I found it in this photo while driving some backroads.

Pheasant under glass.....well, not yet anyway!

This pheasant was raised at a game farm near our home in Kansas. See the little blinder stapled to his nose? When they are babies, they put those on, so keep them from killing one another. Well, the day I visited this particular pheasant and a few hundred of his friends, they were the "chosen ones" to be crated up, as you see here, and taken elsewhere to be placed in a field eventually, and given a sporting chance for a hunt. So....Pheasant under glass??? - maybe!!

Shoo bird!

Driving the pheasants from one end of the outdoor pen to the other...and then into the barn!

Don't upset the pheasants!

As the owner of the pheasant farm and his help drove the birds to one end of the pen, from time to time, they would get a bit excited, this was one of those times. Feathers and dirt flying like crazy, squaking and wings flopping...what a site to see and quite the sound to hear as well!

Catching pheasants for the hunt

This young man is in the barn at the pheasant farm near us. He is assisting the owner by helping catch pheasants that will then be packed in crates and taken out for a hunt.

Pheasant awaiting sunrise

This female pheasant awaits the sunrise at a local game farm.

In this particular enclosure were some of the younger birds. I did not get up there in the spring to take pictures like I wanted to so I did not get to see any babies this year, maybe next spring!

A distant look over the Konza Prairie

See the post below for more information on the Konza Prairie. This view shows the vast grasslands that makeup this beautiful section of the Flint Hills.

The Konza Prairie

The Konza Prairie is an 8600 acre preserve of natural grasses and other vegetation that is managed by Kansas State University. My son David and I went there recently for their "Open House". We learned that "Konza" is simply another way of saying "Kansa" which were the native Americans the State was named for.

We also learned that the Konza is burned at varying intervals, some fields every year, some every 5 or even 20 years to monitor growth and learn about watersheds.

Some of their fields are grazed by Bison, many are not. They study that too.

All of this for the sake of ranchers and farmers. The research done at this Biological station is shared with those learning to manage lands, crops, animals and protect water sources. It was a beautiful day on the prairie. I do plan to go back, and although most of the Konza is closed to people most of the time, there is a hiking trail that is managed there as well. The header on this page is also from the Konza Prairie.