Thursday, November 14, 2019

Wichita Bluff Nature Area With No Amber Waves Of Blueberry Mountains

At my current location on the planet there is no purple mountain majesty no matter which direction one looks and no matter how powerful a telescoping viewing device one might use.

But, there may be some amber waves of grain waving somewhere closer than the nearest mountains, though I have not personally eye witnessed any wheat or oats or rye growing any where near my current location..

And those are not amber waves of grain you see waving here. Those are tall, as in maybe 12 feet tall, or taller, waves of, (I think the name is) cat-o-ninc tails, rendered brown by the recent deep freeze of recent days.

I saw that this jungle of foliage was no longer green today when I returned to the Wichita Bluff Nature Area of the Circle Trail so as to enjoy some chilly pseudo hill hiking.


A few hundred feet to the west of those wannabe amber waves of grain I came upon that which you see above. An evergreen tree of some variety not familiar to me, blooming what looked to me like blueberries. This definitely is not a blueberry bush. And this did not seem to be a juniper tree with the "berries" smelling like something that would come out of a bottle of Dutch gin.


Today I hiked as far as the point you see above, an overlook looking over the Wichita River. As you can see the dominant color is no longer green. The deep freeze has wreaked havoc with the color scheme.

The next time the outer world temperature moderates I am thinking a drive north to Oklahoma to Medicine Park and the Wichita Mountains Wilderness zone might be scheduled. I do not know if these mountains are of the sort I think of when I see that "mountain" word, but it sounds fun to find out...

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