In early October of 2020 I took a series of sunset photos at Lake Scott State Park, Kansas, and then proceeded to forget about them because, well, Kansas.
Now that’s not an entirely fair representation because I spent the entire following month traveling the country and taking all kinds of pictures of all kinds of things, without pausing to process anything. By the end of the trip, I had countless frames of dramatic landscapes, amazing creatures, and wonderful moments; a sunset while at a campground in transit to the wonders was easily overlooked.
I never went back to process those images until now, and only because I realized that I’d somehow added Nebraska to my portfolio first. While Kansas often gets the reputation as the most boring state in the country, I’d award that to its northerly neighbor instead. Nebraska adds a time-warp factor where the ten hours or so across its identical plains turn into a psychological one hundred. They still have their merits: I’ll admit that I do like Kansas, and Nebraska’s Fort Robinson is a beacon of geological interest that awaits at the end of the plains, while the copious hawks and falcons that watch over the flatlands in both states are a fun thing to scout to stave off the boredom of the arrow-straight road.
I discovered this image while processing that Kansas sunset, and it was one of those that I had to stare at for a while before moving on. The fiery orb of the sun looks like it is devouring the rise that faces it; soon it appears that it will sweep down the meadow toward me. Not the Kansas disaster the storybooks warned me of, but I’ll prefer this beautiful sunset to a tornado.
And not a flying monkey in sight- though I was ready for their pictures if they were.
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