The quiet colors of Mississippi. 

Not long ago, when I was driving back from a trip out of state, I purposely slowed to cross the state line. I wanted a moment to get back on Mississippi time. As the landscape changed, I admired the rusted metal roofed barn in a field nearby that had succumbed to the heat and humidity, and let the gently aged feel of the prairie seep back into my pores. I made my way back home driving a little slower taking in the colors of Mississippi.

With distinctive grey green shrubs and trees, its muted bronze and straw yellows, Mississippi has a visual softness that is unique. I am reminded how easy it is to no longer notice the beauty in something. 

The loveliest time of day is when the afternoon gold illuminates the grasses and tall full willows. Each ethereal wave and shimmer in the sunlight seems as if the grasses will drift off in the breeze.

In August, after being away for a while, the endless swaying grasses of the prairie surprised me. Dancing in shades of yellow, straw, and light green under pale warm blue skies, the grassy landscape seemed otherworldly.

Travelers try to capture the beauty in drives along The Natchez Trace. The two lane scenic  highway runs from Natchez, Mississippi to Nashville, Tennessee.  On the Mississippi section of the restful drive, travelers find the strictly enforced speed limit helps them see deer and wild turkeys. Along other Mississippi roads, travelers see rural still life landscapes of horses and livestock grazing in fields undisturbed. The quiet vistas in the colors of Mississippi must seem sleepy to travelers after driving busy highways elsewhere. They do to me.

I’m home for now. Clearly I’ve been mesmerized by driving the slow and easy panorama of Mississippi.

In the autumn, the golden light is more pronounced settling over weathered views of prairie that stretch over the landscape for miles. Subdued and faded, the colors of Mississippi are a combination of this prairie, the next rise, lazy rivers and delta. Our charitable state even boasts southern coastal communities and some elevation up north.

The extreme humidity of our summers make me question why I live here, but I always find myself again when the steamy summer finally drifts into fall. The fall colors of Mississippi will uplift us all.

Barefoot and looking for autumn,

Kim

the quiet colors of Mississippi