IN THE FADING OF THE DAY, as clouds shove grey across the southwestern Minnesota prairie, a Dodge pick-up jolts color into the March landscape.
The sight pleases me visually, unleashes poetic thoughts of horizontal prairie lines. My eyes trace the truck traveling along a gravel township road against backdrop tree lines. Even the rich black soil runs horizontal across fields of melting snow.
In this scene, I see the immensity of the prairie. Land stretching. Sky stretching. Far. High. Endless.
The red pick-up provides a point upon which to focus my eyes, in which to ground myself. Still, I feel a certain smallness, a vulnerability. Even in this land where I once belonged, where my roots run deep.
© Copyright 2018 Audrey Kletscher Helbling
Minnesota Prairie Roots 
Very nice picture of the contrast of winter with my favorite color featured. And no—my favorite color is not white. 🙂
Oh, Beth Ann, you make me laugh on this Monday morning when we are under yet another winter storm watch (or maybe it’s “warning” by now).
I upped the saturation on the red and tweaked the contrast to create this artsy image.
Red is always a good color to photograph in nature. I love your thoughts about the red truck and the prairie and beautiful nature, no matter what season.
Thank you, Valerie. The red popped in that black-and-white landscape. I’ll admit to upping the red saturation and playing with contrast on the image just to make it pop more. Sometimes I like to have fun that way with photos.
Your photo is as striking as your words. Thank you.
Given the news these days, I count on your blog for relief and beauty.
Ken, thank you for your incredibly sweet words. I appreciate your comment. 🙂
That truck sure stands out. Beautiful picture
I used some photo editing tools to create this image. I, too, like the results.