Let me tell you, eh . . . East of the majestic peaks of the Rockies, there is a ton of open land. Just don?EUR??,,????'???t confuse that word ?EUR??,,????'??open?EUR??,,????'??? with ?EUR??,,????'??barren?EUR??,,????'??? . . . Granted, Cody, Wyoming is pretty much a lightly vegetated desert . . . But as you move on north from Salt Lake City a great percentage of what you see will end up being what you eat, as field after field, mile after mile, potatoes, canola, flax, and wheat fill the landscape.

Now, I have also toured the plains of Nebraska, Iowa and Indiana, eh, and have seen the same abundance of corn. In those states right about this time of year, all you can see from your car is the road ahead and about ten feet into another field of 6 foot tall corn stalks . . . But in the grain and oil-crop fields the plants are rarely taller than your knee . . .

What you see in northern Utah, Montana, Wyoming, Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba are those famous ?EUR??,,????'??amber waves of grain?EUR??,,????'?? mixed with brilliant fields of yellow canola and blue flax, framed in blue spruce, pine, ash, and oak . . . Idaho, as we have all heard, is the one state where the fields are full of little white flowers that top the spuds that make those great American french-fries . . . Talk about your seasonal color . . . Yep, this part of the vast north American continent is about as beautiful as you can get this side of heaven . . .

And speaking about seasonal color, in almost every town, at house after house, porch after porch, city marker after city marker there is a brilliant mix of roses, daffodils, impatiens, carnations and almost every variety of colorful bloom one can imagine . . .

The one spot where nature has been blistered, where one would expect to see perfection, where millions of Americans plan their family outings is Yellowstone . . . In an interview I conducted, back in 1993,with the Landscape Architect in charge of that first of all American National Parks, Eleanor Williams, she told me that Yellowstone is so arid that if you till the earth or even drive across the prairie, the land will take years to repair itself . . Well, she was sure right . . .

Remember that great fire of 1988? Well the under growth from that fire of almost 20 years ago is now about 6-8 feet tall and just beginning to cover the ground . . . But that is what nature is . . . unbending to mans desire, with a time table of millennia, not months . . . Still the sad part about Yellowstone is that what the fire did not devastate, the bark beetle has . . .

Mountainside after mountainside has been made golden by the death of the pine trees. Those trees no longer pump sap, but still hold their dead leaves like a mother protecting her children. However those trees and their golden leaves are silent time bombs, just one spark away from a fire that would burn a good quarter of the park, ironically saving it from further devastation . . . Ah . . . Nature at its best . . .

So, while you are in the business of creating and maintaining the great American (and Canadian) Landscape, be sure to take the time to tour the land and see the creation from which your clients demands are originated. For no matter how hard we may try, it just doesn?EUR??,,????'???t get much better than this . . .

From Gods Country . . . God Bless . . .