The prairies are really attractive this time of year with the golden color of the tall grasses glowing beneath the blue sky. The prairie will begin to look a bit ragged as the rain, snow, wind and cold temperatures work on it through the winter. 
The oaks are about the only trees still holding on to their leaves. They’ll maintain their leaves for quite a while, but the colors will trend more toward dirty grays and browns.
This view is from a section of trail that I travel very often. Over the next few months I’ll watch the Indian Grass stalks become bent and broken. Deer and turkey give this area some heavy use during the winter and the results of their foraging and bedding activities sometimes look as though a battle had been fought.
This area is going to be mowed during the winter to help control cedars and other woody vegetation. Hopefully I’ll get a pair of Grasshopper Sparrows to nest here next year, instead of making their usual failed attempt in the neighbor’s hay field.
As the trees lose their leaves, I begin to see the neighbor’s house and barn. There goes the illusion of wilderness. Of course, I can’t spend much time outside without hearing one of the three most common sounds of rural America; Gun Shots, 4-Wheelers, and Chainsaws.
Clouds temporarily blocking the sun remind me of the winter weather soon to arrive.Click the following link if you would like to check out other participants of Skywatch Friday http://skyley.blogspot.com/
Grasses reach skyward,
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Steve, that would be wonderful if you could get some Grasshopper Sparrows nesting in your field next year! As for the failing cover of the trees, our house is now visible from the road and we can see others who are sheltered from view as long as the tree line covers them up... it's a slightly sad thing, to be thrown into view like that. Plus, as you mentioned, with the leaves gone there's nothing to absorb the sound, so those 4-wheelers, gun shots, and hunting dogs sound that much closer (we don't hear chainsaws too much around our "neighborhood").
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