Churches Of The Prairie 16

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Sacred Heart Church – Emmeram, KS  1901

Emmeran, Ks was originally named Norddorf, the town was renamed to Emmeram after the church pastor Fr. Emmeram Kausler.  Sacred Heart Church was built from 1899 – 1901.  The first Mass was offered on Christmas Day.  Closed in 1967 due to declining population.  In 1998 the church was destroyed by a suspicious fire.

Ruins of Sacred Heart Church – 1901

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Looking toward the once beautiful altar.

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Here is a link to the history of the church Sacred Heart Church – Emmeram, KS

 

A Little Family Cemetery

As I was traveling on the backroad, I drove past this plot of ground that was fenced by the road, surrounded by pasture.  I sensed that it was something special and looking closer I saw 2 stones peering through the tall grass.

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The stones were very worn from the elements of time.  Final resting place of a son and daughter was about all I could make out.

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I didn’t feel that it was neglected and abandoned.  It gave me comfort to see that the little cemetery was part of the prairie as they knew it.  Not manicured by mowers, not in the shadows of wind turbines that are now changing the view of the prairie forever, not exposed to the things in life that make it so convenient for us today, also so detached from people right next to us and moving so fast as to not see nature and all the beauty it holds.

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Churches Of The Prairie 15

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Pray for our country †

Have a wonderful day

Wayside Chapel – Garfield, KS

Wayside Chapel is a memorial to the Congregational Church, which was built in 1875.

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The bell is from our 20th President James Garfield in appreciation for the town being named after him.

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Travelers along Highway 56 are encouraged to pause for prayers to God on life’s journey

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Love the sign

Autumn leaves, Jesus doesn’t

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Assembly of God Church – Sharon, KS

Re-purposed church

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Big Basin Prairie Preserve – SW Kansas

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Located in the Red Hills near Ashland, KS in Clark County is the Big Basin Prairie Preserve.  Owned and managed by Kansas Wildlife and Parks it consists of 1,800 acres, where you will be able to explore a sinkhole that is 1 mile across and 100′ deep, known as the Big Basin.  Big Basin and other sinkholes in the area were formed when layers of gypsum and salt formations dissolved and collapsed causing the sinks.  There is a smaller sinkhole to the east of the Big Basin known as the Little Basin.  Located in the Little Basin is St. Jacobs well.

Big Basin

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Buffalo roam free.  Be sure you know where they are before getting out of your car or hiking.

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St. Jacobs Well is down this rugged trail.

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This pool of water is St. Jacobs well, a natural sinkhole that has never been dry.

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Little Basin – St. Jacobs well is the group of trees in the center.

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Autumn Crops

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Kansas is known for being a wheat state.  Producing 467,400,000 bushel of wheat in 2016.  Kansas also produces milo, corn, soybeans…….

You will occasionally see a field of cotton in Kansas.

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I didn’t know what this crop was.  Neither did the Sheriff who pulled up in the ditch with his red lights on, know what it was. (Just checking to make sure Wylie and I were okay.)  Thanks to all the law enforcement officers, we really appreciate you!!!

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Standing around 5′ tall

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It’s canola.

 

 

Autumn Mosaic

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There is such a bumper crop of milo this year that the elevators are piling it on the ground.  The man whose face was worn from seeing may years of harvest smiled as I told him he was quite an artist.  He replied, “ma’am I’ve never thought of myself as an artist”.

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Dr. Jones Homestead

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Located in the Flint Hills, just to the southeast of Florence, KS is the home of Dr. W.B. Jones

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Built in 1878

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Beautiful stone work

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Dr. Jones and his wife Sara had 7 sons.  They only lived in this beautiful home for a few years.

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The moon keeps watch over the majestic homestead.

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Wild Horse and Burro Adoption

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The Bureau of Land Management manages wild horses and burros to oversee that they thrive on the rangelands.   The BLM manages a vast area of Heard Management Areas, they strive to maintain a healthy herd population on these lands and when they exceed the appropriate management level they are removed and sent for adoption or to off-range pasture.  The herd can double in size every 4 years.  This adoption was held in Salina, there are adoption site all around the country.  Along with the adoption, there was a wild horse show.

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All wild horses and burros are branded with a freeze mark.  The left side of the neck is shaved and the symbols are applied with an iron chilled in liquid nitrogen.  The mark uses a series of angles and alpha-symbols that can not be altered.   The hair on the neck will grow back white.

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No, I didn’t adopt anyone.