SCAPE

The arid Llano Estacado

labors under an unprettiness

of beauty. The neutrality of

a million shades of brown

from yellow-tan, to rust, and

sometimes umber, slashed by

sudden gullies and washes the

color of contrasting earth and dirt.

The greens have it hard out here,

dark and requiring more

black in the paint and a lighter

gray for the trunks of trees.

Today, when I walked out

at eight o’clock, there was

dew on the grass, and my shoes

got wet. When the humidity

runs from four to forty percent,

even a hundred degrees isn’t bad,

but now my back-east nasal drip

has returned to answer the rainy

brilliance of green pastures,

silver sage and a wild month of

frequent rain. Little ponds

flash a delight of sapphire in

places they never were since

I moved here. The sky drama

of those cumulus mountains

splashed with lightening

fifty miles south, might blow

this way and drop hardballs

on the roof and car;

who knew ice could bounce?

I think I’ll take a break today,

walk in a field or two, see through

the unprettiness and look for

those wild purple poppies and

enjoy what’s left of the

Black-eyed Susans waiting for

the trees to bed down

a few weeks from now.

Reviews

[Chris Shaw]

Wow, you must live with some heat. Your description of dry here is captivating. We have had nothing but rain and floods for months. We are hoping for dry while you are waiting for storm clouds. Enjoy that walk among the purple poppies and black-eyed Susan’s. Somehow those flowers that are resilient are appreciated so much more. I appreciated your words Vol and enjoyed my visit.

Chris

[Vol]

Chris,
Thanks for visiting. I've lived along th I-40 corridor where weather is absurd. It is the line where Canadian air meets Gulf of Mexico air and they battle it out. Fifty miles north or south can mean a thirty degree difference and weathermen continue in their pointless jobs of being always wrong. I have seen it drop from 76 degrees to 2 on one Christmas Eve... And a month of rain end suddenly then not a drop for the next nine months. Ha... it is even worse where my house is located on Rt. 66... I-40 sits on a ridge that splits the storms so I can see rain a quarter mile north and more a quarter mile south, while my place is parched...
Vol

[Poetic Beauty]

Wild mouth of frequent rain…
Sounds like me lol I’m always running my mouth when provoked 😂

The wild poppies sound gorgeous. Sounds like a great day for a nature walk

[Vol]

PB,
Sometimes they will show a radar image of huge storms all the way over and covering the length of 'Eastern New Mexico and there will be a slight narrowing of it somewhere I know the storm will part and the space between halves will pass over my bone dry house. I hae seen wild lightening and rain a quarter mile north and the same thing a quarter mile south... I love the petrichor, but it comes with buckets of frustration and envy...
Vol

[Poetic Beauty]

That would definitely be frustrating and aww moment to watch the storm in the distance

[Vol]

Actually, the most drama in my life occurs in the Texas sky...

[Poetic Beauty]

Depends on the day for me. Most days I work, write or read but I have been gardening and I went to the book store for my nieces birthday party. I’m a bit of a big kid sometimes. Bought scented bubbles at the dollar tree and had my other niece and I blowing bubbles inside the vehicle with the windows down on the way to Barns Nobles

[Vol]

PB
Oh, my gosh! sounds like things I used to do in the sixties... well' you probably weren't stoned. I don't smoke if I'm gonna be driving anymore, but that Delta 8 vape is nice company an hour before bedtime.
Vol

[Poetic Beauty]

I actually don’t smoke the fun stuff lol I’m simply a big kid when I’m excite and in a good mood.

Me and my son were wearing Harry Potter sorting hats at the books store carrying stuffed animals. His girlfriend had an arm full she was carrying. I was exploring different books and journals. Touching the covers and especially the embossed covers. There was this awesome handmade Phoenix journal made of leather but it was $60 dollars so I had to pass but I did get my niece two books and I got four for myself lol

[Vol]

Ha, those journals with the home-made paper and leather covers are overpriced. Once you've filled them up they just go on a shelf. I make leather journal covers, so when I find a popular size, in a brand that stores stock, They are refillable, and the hardcover jurnal still sits on a shelf when full.
Vol

[Poetic Beauty]

That is an awesome way to do it!! I go back and reread my poem journals a lot and I have certain journals I have that are all neat and rewritten for people to have someday specifically for each person I’ve written them about

[Vol]

I go back to my old ones all the time... little tidbits in there are great prompts!

[Poetic Beauty]

I go back to feel the sensation and enjoy those moments

[Lorry]

Between four and forty percent humidity? Well that came as a shock to me, because here everything is at least 40% water, even us for the most part!
But yes, I have known heat and even dew, where wet shoes are not just a thought that you must have been walking distracted lying and missed the downpour.
I must admit though that morning dew does make everything prettier, or more bearable at least, to those things and places our tired old dry eyes see as background for the most part in that place we call "everyday."
And what better place to view a storm than a quite safe fifty miles away, as long as it isn't barrelling towards you! 😀

[Vol]

Lorry!!
Thanks! Yes, it is DRY!!! I have to hurry to grab a towel when I get out of the shower, or I'll already be dry. We're never sweaty. On the other hand it's like a shallower level of hell decorated in a million boting shades of brown. I must be crazy! I love it there.
Vol

[Lorry]

Better loving where you live than hating it. I tell myself that every time I have to towel off wondering when the webbed feet and hands will take hold! 😀