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Wednesday, July 9, 2008

Almost Wordless Wednesday




Did you know that Nashville had a prairie and buffalo at one time....neither did I! (all photos enlarge)

Gail

Buffalo Dusk

THE BUFFALOES are gone.
And those who saw the buffaloes are gone.
Those who saw the buffaloes by thousands and how they pawed the prairie sod into dust with their hoofs, their great heads down pawing on in a great pageant of dusk,
Those who saw the buffaloes are gone.
And the buffaloes are gone.

by Carl Sandburg 1922

33 comments:

  1. No, I did not know this. I thought it was Land Between the Lakes when I first saw your picture. What kind of brown eyes are those?

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  2. Neither did I, Gail. I knew we had one here, but not in your neck of the woods. Thanks for your nearly Wordless Wednesday.~~Dee

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  3. I didn't know this either. I love the meadow of black-eyed Susans (or maybe they're brown-eyed as Tina said), but not quite as much as your coneflower meadow:)
    I looked at the first photo for awhile, not seeing any particular shape. But when I got to the end of your post and went back, I saw the buffalo shape immediately. Funny how the mind works.

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  4. Kudos to Forest Hills for planting and maintaining that lovely prairie. The topiary buffalo are very cool!

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  5. Tina,

    I drive past this spot frequently and never even knew there was a parking spot. So on Sunday we were on our way to Radnor Lake, another cool natural area, when we stopped to take a few photos. There are baby bison topiary, too. That's when I saw the sign and was delightfully surprised.

    Gail

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  6. Dee,

    Hi, how's the heat in OK? It was a pleasant surprise to me, too!

    Gail

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  7. rose, Once you've seen fields of coneflowers you're spoiled! Now I am curious about which coneflower they are! Or if they are rudbeckias! Let me check them out and let you know!

    I am a midwestern at heart...meadows and prairies call to me! How about you? Do you hear the call of the meadow?~~~it says to me plant more meadows~~~


    Gail

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  8. gardengirl,

    It's a surprising community! It's actually a town within a city, they have their own government but still are in Nashville proper. Most of the folks live on wooded lots with wildlife and wildflowers; they can't help but be influenced by their surroundings!

    The topiary is cool.

    I love learning about our neighborhoods.

    Gail

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  9. From the photo that looks like the gray Rudbeckia. I used to know the species. D'oh! I love that Carl Sandburg poem, it nearly brings me to tears. Bison are great & make a tasty burger. :-D

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  10. Bison gone green!
    What a neat place to discover...
    Hard to believe they once roamed like the deer of today.
    I hear, the bison at Land between the Lakes are thriving! It has been some time since I visited them.

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  11. Wow that's an amazingly trimmed bison tree! It makes sense that they were here in TN at one time. They covered most of the U.S. at one time. Nice pictures of the meadow!

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  12. MMD,

    Saturday the local green farmer's market was selling organic bison meet and then on Sunday I saw 'green' bison...hmm!

    It is a beautifully sad poem.

    gail

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  13. skeeter,

    I just never thought about it! But now that I look around and see what the land looks like it does make sense that there would be buffalo.

    We never think about visiting up there maybe on the next trip to MO...thanks for the reminder.

    Gail

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  14. Dave it's on the corner of Hillsboro Rd and Tyne Blvd... if you ever get over this way! I think your 2 yr old might like it!

    Gail

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  15. The more progress we make, the more of our history we lose. I know things have to change but I still feel sad when I read a poem like the Carl Sandburg, one.

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  16. eve,

    I think we can preserve more, respect the land and still have development.
    It may cost more but we have come to believe that we ought to have whatever we want delivered quickly, for the cheapest possible cost with the most money possible to developers.

    It makes me sad, too.

    Gail

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  17. Hi Gail, I want to add to Dee's comment. When I was growing up in Tulsa, we went on a field trip to a place called Woolaroc. It was an Indian museum and buffalo preserve. There was a large herd there, very beautiful animals. Of course I was of the age, like most field trip kids are, where who you are sitting next to on the bus is more important than boring museum stuff, but remeber vividly the buffaloes, because they were thought to be nearly extinct at that time, early 'sixties. So I saw some buffaloes, if not THE buffaloes.

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  18. Wow, bison in TN? Here in Nebraska we have bison moneuments everywhere--including a few live ones in a local park. Strange, I see little difference between the live ones and the bronze ones. Excellent Sandburg poem--hey, excellent poet!

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  19. Frances,

    I also think of the buffalo as belonging to the plains states not here in Tennessee...but when I looked up bison on wikipedia...I was really surprised! Early in the 20th century there were about 100 Bison left..isn't it wonderful we are seeing herds of them in the parks!

    Do you ever go to OK for visits? We go every now and again to OKC to see friends.

    Gail

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  20. Hi Gail, since the last of my family passed away I have not been back to OK. Maybe some day. Without the people, it has little of offer me.

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  21. What a wonderfully natural artistic statement. :-) Beautiful place... and the buffalo must be a labor of love.

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  22. Gail,
    Those topiaries are really cool and whimsical! What a clever idea to trim them that way, and a great green monument to these magnificent animals! Up to now I haven't had the heart to eat bison meat (and they sell it at the store frozen).

    I couldn't get a good enough look close at the foliage, but the flowers look like Rudbeckias to me. But they are in the same plant family as the coneflowers, if I'm not mistaken (asteraceae).

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  23. What a cool place. I'll have to go visit Bison Meadow. A piece of Nashville history and very beautiful too. I must put it on my must see.

    PS No rain in ocean city where i am, but i'm glad to hear there was rain back home!

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  24. Gail, I finally put up a little post on our prairie walk from last weekend. You'll find my other prairie posts at the "way-bottom" of my blog. Click on the "prairie" label. ;-)

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  25. ivg,

    As you can see in the meadow...so many of our plants are past their prime! This may be lack of rain or just a reflection of how soon our summers start... in early May. Thanks for id-ing the plant family...I will stop by there and get a closer look sometime soon!

    Glad you like the Bison topiary...it has grown beautifully and after 14 years it is finally filled in! There is a wire cage supporting the design.

    Gail

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  26. Shady,

    I did see your prairie post...really fabulous plants! I wish I could grow them all!

    Gail

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  27. benjamin v,

    How do the bronze ones compare to our greens one.

    Glad you like the poem and poet.

    Gail

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  28. I liked the green bison. Do they keep it up. I knew about bison at LBL & they are magnificent animals. I was just across the fence from them. I'm so glad that they have been protected. Sadly our history is disappearing & all for advancement. Nothing wrong with that--people just need to remember what they are destroying.

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  29. lola,

    Yes they maintain the bison...they mow or burn the field each year...it's a little meadow natural area.

    I think they put this here to remind folks of what was once here...Nashville struggles with development and unfortunately the developers usually win.

    Gail

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  30. Very cool. It must take a lot of work to keep those so neatly shaped. I guess there used to be praries (and forests) all over the place before "we" moved in and took over.

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  31. Hmm, now I will have to check to see if Alabama had them too. :)

    About the header - I sized the photo so that it was the same size as the original banner, 660 x 100 pixels.

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  32. rurality,

    Thanks! I'll give the pixels a try!

    I had a map somewhere that showed where the bison roamed, let me check it! Here's a quote: 'in Alabama, the plains bison occurred in all but the most southern part of the state'

    Gail

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  33. cinj,

    They regularly shape these cutie pies!
    My husband met the artist once...but I can't recall anything other than that they met!
    It's an active community and they will take care of their topiary bison.

    Gail

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