The Wind Blows On The Prairie--10-31-21
The Wind Blows on the Prairie
By: Carrie Keiser
I’ve lived in the middle of nowhere at the edge of the badlands and the prairie for 20 years and if there is something I’ve learned in those many years, it’s that: THE WIND BLOWS ON THE PRAIRIE!
I have often wondered what made the pioneering people moving west stop and settle on the prairie. There is little to no protection from the elements on these wide open spaces.
Having spent the first 17 years of life in the mountain valley of Western MT and then moving to the semi-arid area of central WA I got a big shock. While I was use to cold and snow, I had yet to experience the level of change that section of WA goes trough in a year. From mega warm in the summers to cold and often mass amounts of snow, but not the level of cold I had experience in Montana. After graduating and getting married, I took a trip to the desert to live in Phoenix, where I experienced real heat and then the crazy phenomena of monsoon season. Then on to Vegas, also hot but most of the year with almost perfect weather and the occasional surprise of snow. All of theses places have wind but I had, as of then, never experienced WIND! We got this plan to leave the big city and take life a little slower on the prairies of eastern Montana. We jumped right into this new life in February. Now February in the desert is nice, its cool like sweater weather kinda, but in the wide open farmlands of Eastern Montana it is parka weather. That wind is so cold, you feel it to the bone, it freezes the tiny hairs in your nose and you feel as if your fingers and toes will fall off after only a few minutes of being outdoors.
The wind blows on the prairie all the time, it can go from a gentle breeze to a tornado or a micro burst without warning. Its a rare occasion when there is no wind and that is when you get worried…..
I imagine in my mind a family traversing the country in a covered wagon, in search of a new beginning in the west. They have been traveling many days, weeks and months. People they started the journey with have chosen to stop or turn off on another path in pursuit of their dreams. Your family has stopped in the wide open grasslands, the plains, the prairie with a few gentle hills. Your parents feel this is the place to stop but you are not sure. This doesn’t sound like “The West” you heard about. Where are the mountains? How will they find trees to build a house? And does this wind ever stop?
After exploring the area, you find there is a river close by and with it trees to use for building. The heat of summer feels nice with that slight breeze. The house is being laid out, an end to the tent in sight.
You and your family have spent the time working hard on the house but there is also the garden you are hoping will produce before winter sets in. You think maybe the wind will stop, but it never does. It seems that the wind is always blowing on the prairie. Summer turns to fall and sometimes that breeze is very strong and cold, so cold. You wonder if your parents and older brothers will be able to make a warm house for you all.
It’s late in October, the house is nearly done and the first snows start to fly along with the ever present wind. You have discovered that there are spots that need extra work to stop the blowing air into your home!
Oh yes, the wind blows on the prairie!
By: Vanessa Holmquist
The wind blow on the prairie. Where a powerful coven of the Barlowe witches called home. Where they were free to practice magic and live at peace. Until the nearest settlement decided that they were evil and must be driven out. The Barlowe family didnt bother the town. for they even grew their own food and kept to themselves. They were constantly harassed and told to leave. One day the Barlowe witches found they grew tired of all the trouble. They whipped up their most powerful spell.
"Thoughts, Beliefs, Ideas, Truths, Images, All of these you hold onto tightly. What I now mention you will release"
They erased the idea the townspeople believe that the Barlowe family were evil witches. Only then did the Barlowe coven and the Town of Grand Meadow live in harmony.
By: Aaron Leavitt
The wind blew across the prairie. She’d always been fond of these long unbroken stretches. A chance to glide along not having to split her attention, jump, or dive. Just a long glide with the grasses tickling her belly. She giggled a little bit and swatted at a lone windmill sending it spinning as she passed. She ruffled a small boys hair, and stirred up a picnic table in a more groomed stretch. It was a nice change of pace, one unbroken slide across long plains. The rockies would roll around soon, the climb was always a struggle, but the slide down the other side would be a thrill. If she made it that far, the foothills were fascinating, so sometimes she just stayed there.
Another farm rolled along below, so she sent some swirling dust devils across the warm soil, giggling as they meandered back and forth. There’d be lots of work later, but for now a breezy, lazy swoopy day it would be.
By: Ryanne Leavitt
The wind blew across the prairie
And the birds danced across the sky,
And carried upon that breeze,
Were the sounds of many moons past
If you stretched your sight,
You could almost see
The buffalo that grazed there,
And smell as the natives’ fires burned.
When looking through the minds eyes
A village of wandering nomads appears
And the sounds of the drums fill your ears.
You can see them in their finery,
And hear their hope filled songs.
The wind blew across the prairie
And time went back a pace.
You could almost see the railroad
Then racing to cross the land.
You could almost see the land was changed
As progress staked it claim.
And now that home where the buffalo did roam
Is filled with people, cities and farms.
But, when the wind blows across the prairie,
And the birds dance across the sky,
You can almost imagine the natives living there.
Story Slingers Prompt
10/29/21
Daren Flynn
Does the wind blow on the prairie? Let me tell you! It does!
I was staring out the windshield of a 69 narrow nose Pete trying to focus on the road, but having trouble because the blowing snow. We (Ted was snoring away in the sleeper.) were headed for Lethbridge, Alberta to load feeder steers to take to the livestock auction in Shoshone, Idaho. We needed to load by midnight in order to arrive at Kingsgate, British Columbia and the U.S. border when it opened. We had left Missoula with the time schedule figured pretty close and now as I was nearing Browning, Montana, I was encountering snow drifts on the highway which were becoming increasingly larger. I was able to maintain a speed of about 45 or 50 and plow through them okay and I was surprised that the resulting bumps did not wake Ted.
As I approached Browning, I observed a sign stating that the road was closed ahead, so I pulled off the road and parked next to another truck. While the bumpy ride didn't wake the boss, when the forward motion of the truck stopped, he immediately woke up and wanted to know why I had stopped. When I told him the road was closed because of a large snowdrift, he said, "We can't wait. We have to load by midnight." He then climbed out of the sleeper and said we would go and he would drive. After he pulled his boots on, he stepped outside and rapped on the door of the truck next to us. After talking to the driver, it was decided that we, with our unloaded bullock, would go ahead and plow into the snow drift and the other driver, with his loaded lumber trailer would pull us back for another plunge into the snow. So that is just what we did, along with a lot of manual shoveling, for the next several hours. We got through that enormous drift caused by the wind that blows on the prairie alright, but we were a little later getting loaded than we had planned. However, we arrived at the border just after it opened and continued on to Shoshone in time for auction. Interestingly when the steers came up for auction no bids reached the minimum set by Bob, he for who we hauled them. So we loaded them back up and transported them to Butte, Montana where they were sold at auction.
There were other times traveling those Alberta prairie roads, pulling an empty stock trailer, that the wind was so strong that it was necessary to drive on the wrong side of the road, taking advantage of the road super, in order to keep the trailer upright. Even doing that there were times when the wheels on the "up wind" side of the trailer lifted off the road. This was witnessed one by Ted who was following me in the other truck. So I repeat: The Wind Blows On The Prairie!
Story Slingers
October 29, 2021
Myrna Flynn
THE WIND BLOWS ON THE PRAIRIE
In the late 1800's, Matilda Jennifer Mathews's Great Great Grandparents, Oleg and Olga Jorgensen, homesteaded on 160 acres in the prairie land of Iowa. The land was good farming land and they were determined to make a profitable living on it.
It was a hard life. There were no trees to make lumber to build a house. They lived for the first couple of years in a dugout. For Olga this was extremely difficult adjustment, the prairie wind blew constantly and she was used to comfortable living. She sometimes thought the wind blowing and the threat of tornadoes was going to drive her crazy. Other times, she would stand out in a field and feel blessed that they had developed and conquered hardships. They persevered and became very successful corn growers and pig raisers.
They wanted the homestead to stay in the family. they made a joint will that left the home and land to whichever of their children loved the land and farming. This provision was to continue and each generation was to choose a child that would cherish the land.
Matilda's Great Uncle Olaf was the last member of the Jorgensen family. He knew that even though Matilda was a successful lawyer in a big New York law firm, she was thinking of retiring young. Her husband had died last year and she was feeling drawn back to her roots.
Uncle Olaf deeded the land to her, after she agreed to pass the land on to her son or daughter, whichever wanted to keep the land in the family.
Matilda resigned from the law firm and moved took possession go the farm. Her Uncle had moved to a retirement center.
Since the old house had been there for over 2 hundred years and was pretty much on its last legs, she had it demolished, the yard leveled and debris free.
Matilda wanted to experience, in a modern setting, living in a dugout. She had a contractor build her a semi-underground Yurt. Only four feet of it was above ground, with sturdy plexiglass windows and solar panels so that she could have electricity and modern appliances.
All the time it was being constructed, the prairie wind blew. It did not take long and she was moved in, ready to live 'in the past', "sort-of". Everything was going well.
She was enjoying less stress life, and wanting to share it with her son and daughter. Finally, they, with their families, agreed to come and spend a month. Both families had motorhomes so sleeping arrangements were covered. Some of the grandchildren wanted to sleep in the Yurt, because it was underground, mostly, and it was a mini-adventure.
the visit did not last for the whole month because the adults could not handle the prairie wind that seemed to never stop. This left Matilda with a quandary would either of her children want to keep the land in the family or would the ever blowing prairie wind win in the end?
By: Clancy Flynn
Comments
Post a Comment