Claire is a struggling writer beset by doubts, abandoned projects, and writer's block. Seeking space and inspiration, she and her husband move from a cramped city townhouse to a 26-acre hobby farm. There Claire assigns herself a monumental task. The goal: acre by acre, year by by year, convert their land from overgrazed pasture to native tallgrass prairie. The purpose: to draw inspiration from nature, to restore her confidence and creativity, and to finish what she starts.

It's a challenging trip from to scrub to prairie — startling, frustrating, breathtakingly beautiful, and frequently comical. Claire must contend with obstacles large and small: hungry deer and rabbits, noxious weeds, her own aching muscles, and events she couldn't foresee. At night, Claire's struggles on the prairie are reflected in her dreams.

Ultimately, Claire's prairie teaches her a surprising lesson — for the land dreams, too.

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Undone Prairie

by Elizabeth Hatch and Diane Rains
Copyright © 2006     All Rights Reserved

Oh the Black-eyed Susans gather where the blazing star is growing,
And butterflies begin again where milkweed’s overflowing.
The grass goes on forever while the Red Winged Blackbird trills,
And a dusky crow is chatting beneath my windowsill.

Amazed by what this land has wrought with every precious rain,
And humbled unexpectedly by flights of sandhill cranes,
Sometimes I think this place is all I need to keep me sane.
There's room for me to breathe again out on this prairie plain.

Turn and face the rising sun and watch the shadows fly.
See the light embrace the clouds beneath the brightening sky.
Then something like the prairie wind comes searching through my soul,
And I feel that I am finally comin' home.

Here bluestem grows so high the sky will never be the same.
In fields that sigh and tremble, the plover calls my name.
I wander under endless stars and watch the moon grow old
As moments run to days rush into weeks and months, like gold.

Time slips silently away, and wrestle though we may,
Yesterday is gone today and never tarries.
And creation never stays: the glorious skies proclaim
"Look up! you're on the way!" – Undone Prairie.

Turn and face the rising sun and watch the shadows fly.
See the light embrace the clouds beneath a brightening sky.
Then something like the prairie wind comes searching through my soul,
And I feel that I can finally
Turn and face the rising sun and watch the shadows fly,
See the light embrace the clouds beneath a blazing sky.
Then something like the prairie wind comes searching through my soul,
And I feel that I am finally, yes, I feel that I am finally,
Well, I feel that I am finally comin' home.