I felt like a little natural beauty might do us all some good today.
Four-point evening primrose (Oenothera rhombipetala) and sunrise in sand prairie at The Nature Conservancy’s Platte River Prairies, Nebraska.
Dragonfly in Pawnee County, Nebraska
The Nature Conservancy’s Niobrara Valley Preserve, Nebraska.
Blazing star (Liatris aspera). Lincoln Creek Prairie. Aurora, Nebraska.
Katydid nymph on black-eyed Susan. Aurora, Nebraska
Bison at The Nature Conservancy’s Niobrara Valley Preserve – Nebraska.
Shell leaf penstemon and rainwater. Niobrara Valley Preserve, Nebraska.
Cottonwood tree, fog, prairie, and sunrise. The Nature Conservancy’s Platte River Prairies.
Caterpillar, ant and inchworm on pitcher sage (Salvia azurea). Platte River Prairies, Nebraska
Crab spider and ant on annual sunflower in sandhills prairie at The Nature Conservancy’s Niobrara Valley Preserve.
Water droplets on spider silk on a foggy day. The Nature Conservancy’s Platte River Prairies, Nebraska.
Autumn prairie. The Nature Conservancy’s Niobrara Valley Preserve.
The Prairie Ecologist 
America The Beautiful
Thank you.
Thank you for this! Yes the sun did come up in spite of the political disaster! I only hope we can continue to protect and effectively steward the beauty you’ve reminded us of…..thanks for all you do to keep America beautiful!
Chris,
Thank you.
Thanks, Chris. We needed this to focus on the good.
Thank you. Beautiful scenes – and definitely needed today! I think the caterpillar is a Salt Marsh Moth Caterpillar – Estigmene acrea.
A breath of fresh air came out of Nebraska this morning via your photos. Thanks, Chris
They are all beautiful, as is Nebraska.
Thank You! I needed those glorious photos of natural things, today and everyday. Reading Wendell Berry’s “Peace of Wild Things” helps the soul, too.
I’m going to check that book out. Thanks for the tip! Beautiful photos, like a virtual balm. Thank you.
Shows the beauty of the prairie. Especially love the Niobrara photos. I miss living up there.
Ah, Chris you nailed it again! Thanks and fun to see. Our Namekagon Barrens in northwestern Wisconsin has some of the same scenarios and I grew up in the Sonoran Desert of south central Arizona. The open natural beauty is stunning. Sometimes hard to get people out of their cars and look down as well as up. HAH!! Beautiful!!!
I needed this today. Thanks
Well appreciated. Thanks!
Thanks for this reminder of how beautiful our country is in spite of the Darkness that has now settled on us.
Uh, Uh! No politics, HAH!
Very funny
thanks
mark
Thank you so very much. I DO need this.
Thank you so much for this Chris.
On Wed, Nov 9, 2016 at 8:28 AM, The Prairie Ecologist wrote:
> Chris Helzer posted: “I felt like a little natural beauty might do us all > some good today. ” >
As always, Chris, your images are amazing. Thanks so much for the lift!
Chris, thank you so much for sending this to us today.
Thank you. Beautiful shots. Linda Williams Liberty, MO
>
I love your photos. They give me a lift. Thank you. Noel
I turned the photo of the water droplets on the spider thread upside down and zoomed in, hoping to get a wide-angle view of the prairie. Maybe the resolution of the posted image has been reduced for the web, but the scene viewed through these tiny lenses is too blurry to make out any detail. Some intriguing darker brown blobs in the foreground–bison? bos?
You outdid yourself in sharing some of your great pictures. Thank you!
All very nice.
Thank you! Very much appreciated today.
What great pictures Chris. Thank you! >
I needed this – THANK YOU! Thanks for ALL of your wonderful photos & posts, but it’s especially appreciated today. Thanks for reminding me about the best parts of this country.
Beautiful images and wonderful therapy, Chris. Also, your responses confirm that there are still many who care for the world beyond politics, economics and human conflict. I do need to believe that. Watching carefully from Australia.
Exactly what I needed to see today. So beautiful! I hope this extraordinary scenery will be able to be seen for generations to come. Thank you Chris!
Thank you! I needed this today.
Thanks Chris. I hope we can all agree these wild and beautiful places and spaces deserve our continued protection.
I have been reading your posts for a few years but have never have left a comment. Today, I say with gratitude for your timely sharing, thank you Chris!
I so needed this – thank you! It does bring give one hope. I will share it with others!
“But Buck possessed a quality that made for greatness – imagination. He fought by instinct, but he could fight by head as well. He rushed, as though attempting the old shoulder trick, but at the last instant swept low to the snow and in. His teeth closed on Spitz’s left foreleg. There was a crunch of breaking bone, and the white dog faced him on three legs. Thrice he tried to knock him over, then repeated the trick and broke the right foreleg. Despite the pain and helplessness, Spitz struggled madly to keep up. He saw the silent circle, with gleaming eyes, lolling tongues, and silvery breaths drifting upward, closing in upon him as he had seen similar circles close in upon beaten antagonists in the past. Only this time he was the one who was beaten.”
pp. 33 and 34, The Call of the Wild, Jack London
Thank you so much, Chris. Timely post. I hope one day to visit your beautiful Nebraska prairie.
Beautiful pictures – lightened my troubled soul after this election fiasco.
Thank you for the restorations.
Thank you for reminding us that we live in an incredibly beautiful country.
Thanks, Chris. These lovely photos help.
Thank you Chris !!!
Astounding photos!
Love your photos. I needed them. Thank you for sharing.
Beautiful. Nature is definitely a tonic!
I really love your sunset photos they are completely stunning! Thanks for sharing. I have a poetry blog here on WordPress in case you have time to have a look? Many of my recent poems have been Spring related! Wishing you a relaxing weekend, Sam :)
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