Chuck Lura

I was perusing through Theodore Roosevelt’s book “Ranch Life and the Hunting Trail” (1888) recently, and ran across his description of burning coal veins. He wrote that the burning coal veins were one of the more interesting features of the badlands.

CBS Sunday Morning aired a story a couple weeks ago on people searching out larch trees in the western mountains during the fall to observe their golden colored needles. Although there are no larch native to North Dakota, an introduced species is grown as an ornamental in the state.

I recently noticed some rose bushes loaded with rose hips. Most people think of rose flowers as adding beauty to the summer months. But the rose hips add interesting color to the fall and winter landscape. Seeing all those rose hips made me think that it is time to brew up a batch of rose hip tea.

I recently saw an advertisement for spider web decorations for Halloween. Although real spider webs are common and easily observed, we largely ignore them unless one is located in a prominent position in or near our homes, in which case they are often promptly removed.

When it comes to the sounds of plants, wind through the conifers and the quaking of aspen leaves are often mentioned. But I suspect that for many North Dakotans, the rustling of cottonwood leaves are even more iconic and may evoke some vivid memories.

No doubt many North Dakotans hear a loud, gurgling call emanating from overhead during spring or fall, and look skyward in search of the source. After a bit of searching, you finally identify the source as a flock of large birds, way up there! If the flock is lower, long legs might be visible sticking out behind them. Ahh, the call of sandhill cranes!

Many newspapers and other media will run stories about the leaves turning color on the trees before falling. Many of these news items will explain how chlorophyll breaks down, and the other colors (pigments) that were there all along become visible. They may compare the color change to “removing the chlorophyll mask” from the leaves.

If you are up for a little stargazing, now might be a good time to do so. There is a new moon coming up on October 2, so with the relatively warm temperatures and clear skies, conditions could be quite good. Plus, the Orionids meteor shower is about to begin.

It’s that time of year! The fall equinox occurs this year on Sunday, September 22. At precisely 7:43am CT, the sun will be directly over the equator.

For many, be they native North Dakotans, transplants, or those just passing through, it often takes some time to warm to the wide-open spaces of the North Dakota landscape. Although there is a lot of cropland, I suspect that for many people, the wide-open expanses of prairie are a large part of what calls people to love and appreciation of the landscape.