North, Above the River

Daily Note and October Doodle

Every day, a photograph, a poem. On Thursday in very late afternoon, we hopped in the truck for a short drive. The sun driving west towards Banks Lake shone into our eyes so we opted for a turn right, north. We made a slight turn east towards Crown Point Vista and then left, north again on a dirt road that followed the Columbia River, the part known as Rufus Woods Lake in the northernmost area of the Columbia Basin.

Ahead, towards the northeast, Moses Mountain rose into the clouds. And all around the sun on the prairie grasses and shadows in the lower river cast a spectacular view on our adventure. One of the most common grasses is the Great Basin Rye Grass [ Leymus cinereus ], which can be found all through the Great Basin of the western states. This is my October Doodle, a pencil sketch of the rye grass:

We wound our way through ranch land and turned into a curve with a view south that was so worth our little jaunt on a a dirt road: the view of the mighty Columbia flowing north, away from Grand Coulee Dam and below the prairie of wild grasses glowing in the afternoon sun.

And so, a poem.

North, Above the River

North, an evening drive
no sun will blind our eyes
Above the river go
left, up the dirt road
through the prairie grass we wind,
wondering what sights we’ll find,
Moses Mountain in the clouds
past the river’s call, once loud;
Ever higher, through ancient hills
curving back, the sight does thrill:
the mighty river flows below
the autumn grasses in golden glow.

Sheri Edwards
10.29.22 304.365.22
Poetry/Photography

Looking south at the Columbia River on the northernmost part of the Columbia Basin along Lake Rufus Woods over the shrub-steppe ecosystem and its prairie grasses. Moses Mountain is behind us when looking northeast.

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