the Flint Hills

I’ve been slow at finishing these sketches . . .
We returned to Kansas last week for a friend’s funeral, held in Emporia, KS. As our son Jason drove us up the Turnpike, I snapped some photos with my phone, to be sketched later.

These are the beautiful Flint Hills we used to live near. When I used to meet with friends in the Kansas City area for monthly sketch crawls, these are what we drove through. Though I seldom actually sketched them while I lived in Kansas.

After grueling cattle drives from Texas, cattle were brought here to fatten up on the rich tall bluegrass before heading for the trains. We have seen them in every season, drenching rain and drought, and even during the yearly burning of the Flint Hills. Always beautiful, always a bit mysterious.