If you don't know the Prairie

There is a wonderful little book by David Bouchard called "If you're not from the Prairie." It is a beautifully illustrated poem that described different features of the life on the prairie: the wind, snow, sun, and sky. Each little section starts by saying a variation of: "If you're not from the prairie you don't know the wind, you can't know the wind." The lines from this poem came back to me recently as I spent several days in the prairie of South Dakota for a friend's wedding. The wide open expanses of land and blue sky was something I realized I had missed without evening know it. The wind of the plains, just enough to keep you from getting to hot but thankfully not enough to tip over the tent being used for the reception.

I felt at home too in my friend's family home where I stayed while assisting with the wedding preparations. Though busy days were spent making sure that the big and little details of the wedding day were taken care it was done in a spirit of fun and with great friends that I had not seen in some time. The wedding day itself was beautiful as was the bride. The wildflower bouquets we made in shades of purple, white, and green fit both the location perfectly. The flower girls and ring bearer were adorable though a bit antsy. In a truly unique twist the bride and groom had brewed their own beer for the reception and made a special cherry flavored beer for the wedding toast. It was great! The evening spent chatting and dancing with my friends who I had worked with in Bolivia were among some of the best times. My favorite moment though, was probably a morning run I took with the bride and her sister, we set out as the sun was rising over the rolling hills where their family lives. As a runner there are some days when a run just feels perfect and that run was one of them, made so by the company and the beautiful scenery. After five days I reluctantly boarded a plane back to the polluted air of Atlanta and the confines of classrooms for my last year of school.

The prairies may not be as majestic as the mountains or oceans views that many seek out but there is something about the seemingly endlessness of them that is very compelling. It is in those moments that I can imagine what it might have been like for those pioneers that first crossed the plains to make their homes and their livelihoods from that fertile yet unforgiving land.