We are fortunate enough to live not too far from the
Tallgrass Prairie Preserves. (This is also close to another famous Oklahoma. I won't name any names.
The Pioneer Woman.) It was hot and it was steamy and the only reason Daughter 1 agreed to drive over to the Prairie was because we told her it was close to the aforementioned blogger. I hold no clout with my own kid. (Or Klout - jeez! I'm so confused!)
We drove over just before the sun was setting hoping to see the Bison as they made their way across the prairie when the temperature cooled. We timed our visit just right and ended up seeing over 100 bison, including some precious baby bison who really didn't know what to think of the minivan making its way right through their herd.
 |
| Hey you! Get outta my backyard! |
Hoping to help The Daughters understand why these Preserves are necessary, I explained how the Indians would roam around the buffalo and use them only as they needed them. Unfortunately, the white settlers, didn't understand about conservation and almost killed the bison to extinction for sport. President Teddy Roosevelt, who valued the bison, sent scouts out to find the buffalo and protected the few that were left. I also explained how the grasses were pertinent to the environment to prevent such calamaties as the Oklahoma Dustbowl. Daughter 1 nodded her head on several occasions, having already studied Oklahoma history, most of this information was not new to her. In fact, on several occasions, she corrected me. Ahem.
Daughter 2 also nodded her head on several occasions, but remained uncharacteristically silent. She's got such a tender heart, it was difficult to know exactly what she was thinking.
We drove to a point where we could see only prairie and bison as far as the eye could see. It was at this point, when we stopped to watch the sun dip slowly, that Daughter 2 broke her silence.
"This is beautiful, Momma," she whispered, her little voice bringing a tightness to my throat. My chest was swelling with pride at the thought of her embracing the world we live in with a desire to save and preserve our earthly home.
"Can you imagine," she continued, "How many houses I could build on this land? It'd be like a whole neighborhood!"
Ahhh... My little
environmentalist capitalist.
