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Yesterday I visited the Kingston Prairie Reserve for the first time. I explored only one section of the reserve, and that not very thoroughly, but I was surprised by how moved I was. Reflecting later as to why, I identified at least three factors at play:

The first, simply, was its loveliness. This 155-acre piece of land, under the care of the Greenbelt Land Trust, protects rare native prairie. The field was dotted with wildflowers, as you can see in this photo. (I later learned that this year’s bloom is a fraction of normal, due to our unusually dry spring.) It was also alive with birds and birdsong. The first thing I noticed when I stepped out of my van was a Northern Harrier hunting. I also saw Western Meadowlarks (pictured here), Western Kingbirds, and others.

The second was a certain amount of nostalgia. I was talking with Kate and some friends recently about second homes: If we could have a second home anywhere in the world, where would it be? Hawaii, Italy, and Oregon’s High Desert came up. My first thought: “Gypsum, Kansas.” I was born in Oregon and most of my relatives are here; this is home. But I grew up in Kansas and Nebraska, and there is something about the Kingston Prairie Reserve that made me homesick for the prairies of the Midwest.

The third factor was its wildness. There were no trails. It was quiet. I mentioned the birds and wildflowers, but there were also stands of mature trees and evidence of burrowing animals everywhere. With so much being developed in our area, either for homes and industry or for agriculture and infrastructure, our remaining wild places are rarer than ever...and more important than ever. I kept thinking about that line from Henry David Thoreau, “In wildness is the preservation of the world.” God bless folks like the Greenbelt Land Trust who are preserving wildness, and therefore the world, one property at a time.

Location: Kingston Prairie Reserve

Date: May 16, 2021

Exposure: 1/500 second, f/9, ISO 400

Focal Length: 850 mm

Gear:

• Camera: Nikon D750

• Lens: Sigma 150-600mm f/5-6.3 DG OS HSM Contemporary with a 1.4x teleconverter