The Zumwalt Prairie and the Cat's Back

"The Zumwalt Prairie seemed a polycultural sea of greens--springtime mint greens, forest greens, shamrock greens.  They were every hue and shine--pale, bright, dull, and verdant--and always changing from the height of the sun in the sky or the volume and cover of the clouds. The wind changed the colors as did morning and evening dew.  Morning color was heightened, noontime was flat, and late afternoon shone gold-green and shadowy."  Marcy Houle, The Prairie Keepers

This book provides a wonderful background for visiting both the Zumwalt and the Cat's Back, two vast high grasslands the hold the silence and awe of Creation.

The reality of God's Presence

When I was young, and even as an adult, I used to think that God was floating "up there" while I was doing the best I could walking on earth.  As my relationship with Him has developed into a walking conversation, I have realized that He is not even across town; He is right here, next to each one of us. I very much enjoyed what Oswald Chambers wrote in "My Utmost for His Highest" on July 20: "Having the reality of God's presence is not dependent on our being in a particular circumstance or place, but is only dependent on our determination to keep the Lord before us continually.  Our problems arise when we refuse to place our trust in the reality of His presence....The experience the psalmist speaks of--'we will not fear even though..." (Psalm 46:2) will be ours once we are grounded on the truth of the reality of God's presence, not just a simple awareness of it, but an understanding of the reality of it."

Ultimate Rest