Into tornado country

I grew up hearing tornado sirens periodically being tested and practicing tornado drills in school and summer camp. Our arrival in tornado country last summer announced itself by this familiar siren on our way across northern Illinois...

Great Plains scavenger hunt item number three: tornado siren

A civil defense siren (also referred to as an air raid siren, tornado siren, tsunami siren, or other outdoor warning siren) is a mechanical or electronic device for generating sound to provide warning of approaching danger and sometimes to indicate when the danger has passed. Initially designed to warn of air raids in World War II, they were adapted to warn of nuclear attack and of natural phenomena such as tornadoes. In the United States, sirens are usually used to warn of impending natural disasters, as well as threats of military attacks, which in the United States are rare. Throughout the Great Plains, Midwest, and South, they are used to notify the public of a tornado warning or flash flood.

Prairie pothole

Great Plains scavenger hunt item number two: prairie pothole

Prairie potholes are depressional wetlands (primarily freshwater marshes) found most often in the Upper Midwest, especially North Dakota, South Dakota, Wisconsin, and Minnesota. This formerly glaciated landscape is pockmarked with an immense number of potholes, which fill with snowmelt and rain in the spring. Some prairie pothole marshes are temporary, while others may be essentially permanent. Here a pattern of rough concentric circles develops. Submerged and floating aquatic plants take over the deeper water in the middle of the pothole while bulrushes and cattails grow closer to shore. Wet, sedgy marshes lie next to the upland.

The Upper Midwest, because of its numerous shallow lakes and marshes, rich soils, and warm summers, is described as being one of the most important wetland regions in the world. The area is home to more than 50 percent of North American migratory waterfowl, with many species dependent on the potholes for breeding and feeding.

-U.S. Environmental Protection Agency

Illinois tallgrass

The parking lot was empty when we pulled into Goose Lake Prairie State Natural Area in northern Illinois late in the afternoon. As soon as we entered the park headquarters, the ranger jumped at his opportunity for live conversation. He asked what we'd like to know about the prairie, and when we responded with question marks on our faces he said "Meet me out by the flagpole". The flagpole was surrounded by many examples of native flowers, where he gave us a guided tour of each. We followed his introduction with a hike through the surprisingly varied grasses, some over 8 feet tall. This was the first of many times on our trip where we learned that despite appearances, the prairie ecosystem is one of the most diverse in the world.

For our trip across the Great Plains, Jen and I listed as many "things" as we could think of that were associated with this region. Our list served as sort of a scavenger hunt and included both physical and cultural features. As I try to recall them in the next batch of blog posts about our trip, I'll list each item we saw or experienced in the form of a brief dictionary entry. Thus, the first item on our hunt was the tallgrass prairie.

The tallgrass prairie is an ecosystem native to central North America, with fire as its primary periodic disturbance. In the past, tallgrass prairies covered a large portion of the American Midwest, just east of the Great Plains, and portions of the Canadian Prairies. They flourished in areas with rich loess soils and moderate rainfall of around 30 to 35 inches (760 to 890 mm) per year.

-Wikipedia