Gold and Purple
Out in the old fields that line State Route 32, past the western edge of Cincinnati, beyond the Serpent Mound, and on into the Southeastern Ohio counties of Jackson, Vinton, Meigs and Athens, there's a soft, golden light. It is an anniversary occuring here, as old as the hills it is spread upon, and probably older still. Years beyond countless years, where only the rain and the wind claimed rights to shape the land. It is beyond the scope of a human lifetime - far bigger and concerning rhythms that are lost upon our humble ears. It is profound, and it takes my breath away. I watched it as I drove by two days ago, and again as I came back yesterday. Like a regal flowing robe of yellow, hemmed with purple silk. Goldenrods are alight in the fields, and Mistflowers dress the field edges. Solidago , the genus commonly called Goldenrod, is numerous in North America, and it begins to adorn the Ohio fields from August until October, but it is at it's most spectacularly widespr