Kip’s Comments - July 6, 2026

Belly Tickles

East of Waverly on Highway 3, where the north ditch rises high, many compass plants are reaching for the sky. Today’s scene, with a blue sky dotted with cumulus clouds, reminded me of one of my favorite quotes by the father of conservation - Aldo Leopold.

“What a thousand acres of Silphiums looked like when they tickled the bellies of the buffalo is a question never again to be answered, and perhaps not even asked.”

Imagine what our landscape looked like when compass plants and other prairie flowers blew in the wind. Think of the bison, the wide open prairie spaces. Oh how beautiful it must have been!

Compass Plant - Image 1119082