The turkey foot shaped tops of big blue stem grass are waving in the warm breezes that are crossing through the prairies in Marquette County.  The graceful jointed stems are seen in many places.   Today while out near Westfield, I saw 2 sandhill cranes that were changing from the brown juvenile year old coats to the soft gray of the adult.  I already miss the great birds as I know they will too soon be gone until next spring.

Walking on the roads and natural areas of Marquette County you can see the late summer burst of color of fall flowers.  Blazing star pokes its purple spikes in the air and compass flower turns its head to the sun.  At John Muir Park, a walk through the prairie has you meandering through a blooming wonderland.

I cut some new paths on my property so I and my 3 dogs can walk more easily each day.  It’s about a mile total and goes through prairie and woods.  I plan on putting a few benches along the way.   The orioles are still eating grape jelly.  The cranes are gathering in larger and larger groups.   My blazing star is blooming in a wild purple all over the land.

Tonight is the full moon and it will be glorious if the night is like those this past week.  Our walk this morning took us through prairie and forest.  Down by the lake, the vegetation is so thick we can hardly walk through the wood pallet path to get onto the pier.  A second family of Orioles has been back at the grape jelly bird feeder. 

Ahhh….what a change nature makes and how she slips it in without us noticing.  There is a scent in the air that foretells the end of summer.  It’s dry, smoky, a little woody.  Many plants have turned brown and the late summer wild flowers are screaming their colors to the sky.