Writing a Picture

I head for Kansas. I know, most people think of Kansas  as Flyover Country, Drive-by Land, No Where, a Desert of Wheat, or some other such moniker. I will admit the far western reaches can be sparse of interesting things unless you have a good eye for seeing pheasants among the fields. But the eastern third of Kansas has trees, vales, creeks, grasses, and a thinning of people. It is a beautiful place. Nothing nicer than driving over a rise and seeing the Flint Hills spread before you.

I’ll acknowledge that the heat gets pretty oppressive, but then the heat everywhere is a strangling monster these days. With not enough rain added to the high heat, corn burns where it stands. There are very few wildflowers right now. And the blue haze of Kansas heat stretches across the endless view. Still I find the landscape inspiring.

I was constantly digging in my purse for pen and note pad as we bowled down Highway 400. DH asked me what in the world I was doing, constantly moving. Well, I had a thought, or a word, or a phrase that I did not want to lose. How about this alliterative one? The heat caused the Kansas blue haze to hover near the endless horizon.

Painters take their palettes, canvases and easels outside to paint, to create, to replicate. Writers can do the same. For me the rolling earth full of crevices and rises, that were once a floor to a great inland sea, make me want to paint with words. An office is nice, but getting out being part of the landscape is beneficial too.

So where do you create your written masterpieces?

Where is your inspiration?