”The Once And Future Prairie”

1st in a Series By Ruth M. Rose September 2019

The History

Over the last 27 years, I have heard a lot about the Loess Hills. Dianne Blankenship and Bill Zales have
been a huge component in preservation, conservation, and restoration in the Loess Hills area, and I had
curiously and casually attended hosted field trips and hikes.

I was headed down a different path. We bought a 59.7 acre property on Talbot Road on Stone State
Park, and ‘Off I Went’ on my Equestrian Adventures.

Since 2007, I have been actively competing with my horses in a sport called “Eventing”. This is a Three
Day Triathlon with the same horse and rider participating in Dressage, Cross Country Jumping, and Show
Jumping. I have had 6 horses over those years, and four of these are currently retired from Competition
on our property. My instructor, Cindy Burke, a Board Member with Iowa Natural Heritage Foundation
(www.inhf.org) was a dynamic and enthusiastic coach, and became a dear and close friend over the
years. She is in gray in the background of the second photo.

During my ‘Horsin’ Around’ years, I also actively participated in the initial installation of the Junior
League Hands On Gallery at the Dorothy Pecaut Nature Center, which includes a huge diorama of the
prairie system-- roots and all. I also helped with fundraisers like “Nature Calls”, and that’s where my
“Once And Future Prairie” Adventure began in earnest. Bill, his wife Dotty, and his many friends had
collected bags of Prairie seeds off his property near Broken Kettle Grasslands. My husband and I put a
bid in on the seeds, and we won! Ok! What do I do with these precious, hand-harvested, carefully
preserved seeds? Needless to say, Bill and his wife Dotty gave a detailed list of the seeds, how to
prepare the plot, when to sow the seeds, and how to manage them over the next few years. So I did the
prep work and waited. And waited. AND WAITED. It was an unusually mild winter, and the seeds
instructed me to “sow just before a snowfall of preferably more than 2 inches”. Well, February came
and—FINALLY—It was predicted to snow! Off I went on my New Adventure!
 Bundled Up and Headed Out, (hand sowing the seeds over existing grassy
degraded remnant (a prairie area never plowed), mowed earlier in 2017.

And then I wished and hoped for SNOW!!!!!!! And it snowed. And snowed. 7
inches! I have never actually wished for lots of snow before…

My timing must have been right because Nature also was sowing seeds
during this storm.

The sun melted a nice thick layer of ice on top of the snow,
enough to support the weight of the dogs. That should
protect those seeds.
That was three years ago. Every single day that I could since that Winter Wonderland Adventure, I have
walked the mowed Galloping Paths throughout our property, and every single day I saw something new.

A new insect. A strange bee. Birds that I have never seen.

Sounds and colors and movement that I had never noticed on our property.

Now, in 2019, my “Once and Future Prairie” adventure REALLY begins.

This year, I took a major “Fork in the Road” of my life. It is interesting that both major life changes I have
made were a result of an invitation from Cindy Burke.
The first, to an Eventing Clinic on her property---which started me down a 12 year pathway of extreme
competition, fun, and friendships that will last a lifetime.
And the second, also on her property-an invitation to the 40th Anniversary Party of Iowa Natural
Heritage Foundation, which later included a visit to the PRAIRIEWOODS Franciscan Center.

I was scheduled to go to the American Eventing Championships in Lexington, Kentucky and I thought to
myself, “Why?” What possible impact can that make on my plans for the rest of my life? What do I want
to accomplish on my ‘Next Adventure’?

And I took the fork that will shape my entire future.

What would I want my Eulogy to read? Maybe something like this:

“She was adaptible to almost any lifestyle or circumstance. She showed kindness to the best of her
ability to all living creatures. She practiced responsibility to Nature, to Self, to Friends. She tried her very
best to do no harm. And-- most of all-- She “Grabbed Life By The Hand and
Danced With It Exuberantly”!

I hope that you, through sharing my personal journey over the next many years,
will find the inspiration to start-- or continue-- a Natural Rescue, Restoration,
(existing Prairie that needs help) or Reconstruction (starting from scratch)
Adventure of your very own! Or start a Native Plants Garden in your yard or in
pots! Anything you do that promotes Natural Planting in your area will bring a
Native Species some much needed habitat! “Go Prairie!”

“Off I go, on my Next Adventure!”