Home Again on the Prairie

windmill on the prairie mary todd flint hills art

home again

The Seasons... Keep on Changing

Moon as Pearl mtodd

red-headed woodpecker

Moon as Pearl

Konza Prairie Moon

mary todd

Mary Todd

mary todd

Mouse Haven in Mouse Haven in Winterthe Snow

Mouse Haven in Flint Hills Winter mary todd

Mouse story click to view large

Orange Marmalade Cat on the Prairie

A Marmalade Cat in the Flint Hills mtodd

Red Hot Chili Pepper of the Thunderpaws Tribe

Geese

Geese in lowering sky
Mary Todd

November Beauties

Konza Prairie Dog in the Fall mary todd

Kansas Corn Hawaiian Style mary todd

Modern Farming mary todd fine art in the flint hills

Fine art in the flint hills mary todd

Fine art in the flint hills mary todd

Autumn Beauty

Fine Art in the Flint Hills Sweetest Donkey, sheep farm mary todd

Flint Hills of Kansas mtodd

Flint Hills Country Road mtodd

The Big Blue River Meets the Kansas

The Big Blue River and the Kansas River intersect here in the northern edge of the Flint Hills.

The blues of the water are clear and bold but can become steely in winter. The clouds seem whiter than white as they build and billow above the gently moving water.  The riverbanks are lush with life; even in deep winter there are bald eagles, red-tailed hawks, migrating geese and pelicans (Pelicans!) and more.

Kansas River Clouds mary todd
Konza Prairie Girl Flint Hills Fine Art 

Sunburst at the Kansas River mary todd
Konza Prairie Girl Flint Hills Fine Art 

"The Big Blue River is the largest tributary of the Kansas River. The river flows for approximately 359 miles (578 km)[2] from central Nebraska into Kansas, until its confluence with the Kansas River at Manhattan.
It was given its name by the Kansa tribe of Native Americans, who lived at its mouth from 1780 to 1830, and who called it the Great Blue Earth River."
from Wiki

Also from Wiki:

"Shortly before intersecting with the Kansas River, the Big Blue discharges its waters into a reservoir called Tuttle Creek Lake, which lies slightly northeast of Manhattan. The reservoir is a man-made flood-control measure, held back by a dam composed of the limestone, silt, and gypsum dredged out of the floodplain by bulldozers left to rust underneath the flooded area. The land surrounding the reservoir is a state park area, although the Great Flood of 1993 decimated much of the northern area.

The river continues as the outflow from Tuttle Creek Lake for approximately five miles before intersecting with the Kansas River east of Manhattan."

This view of the Kansas River is just east of Manhattan.

The Painted River mary todd
Konza Prairie Girl Flint Hills Fine Art 

(Here is a story of a large turtle, rescued from a highway running through Manhattan and left on the banks of the river just here:)

Listen to some River Sailing Music....

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time to go lay down in a field...

Konza Prairie Girl Flint Hills Fine Art 
Kansas River Cloud Collage (small) mary todd

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All photos paintings pictures and art: copyright protected.

Morning Butterflies

Early rising to film emergence can yield lovely surprises...

Butterfly in the Flint Hills mary todd

Zebra Swallowtail in the Flint Hills mary todd 

Butterfly emergence:
click here  The-butterfly-life-on-prairie--Chrysalis

Spring vultures

Vultures in the Flint Hills mary todd

This job--
to keep things clean and pretty.
Eliminate death and decay.
Eating corruption.
The face
of a vulture is red and seems sad.
I see them near my home, working hard.
What grace must Fill them!
Doing the work that never ends.
 Doing the work no one speaks of
like my beautiful grandmothers.
Like your beautiful grandmothers.
No pretty Golden Beaks, no Snowy White headfeathers.
No eating food Alive.
The sad eyes are not really the eyes.
The humble face on the regal body
humbles me.

Vulture in Light Flint Hills mary todd

Lovely Flint Hills Vulture mtodd

quit complaining oh you thought i'd be pretty if i had head feathers and a yellow beak and ate my food ALIVE? (that's actually kind of cruel, eh?doing the work i was created for. taking care of this task is humbling.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NT6inwCdydI&feature=related

vultures by mary todd

by mary todd

Vulture in the flint hills mtodd

Farms on the Konza: Beautiful Sunrise, Cows Mooing, and Clouds Screaming Color!

Even though my fingers were FREEZING
I left the pile of warm cozy, ran outside and took some videos (posted below) of a typical fabulous Flint Hills Sunrise. I love the Konza Prairie! I love the Great Plains! (is Great Plain an oxymoron?)

Most Photos are untouched but shrunk.

Flint Hills Farm mary todd

Morning Farm in the Flint Hills mary todd

Fine Art in the Flint Hills mary todd

Winter Prairie Farm mary todd

Winter Flint Hills Moon mary todd

 The morning moon seemed wrapped in a grainy fog.

Sunflower Winter Remains mary todd

 Dead Sunflowers Reach for Strange Clouds

Winter Skies on the Prairie mtodd

 Sailfish in the Sky.

Prairie Farm in Winter mary Todd

 Click on pic to view large.

Fine Art in the Flint Hills Treeline on the Farm Mary Todd

 The view north.

I will insert the videos after a couple of whimsy moments:

Plastic Wrapped Winter Sky mary todd

Mary Todd Treeline

and in the daytime:





very Large File: Bare Trees in Morning Moon Light

Bare Trees in Morning Moonlight mary todd