Driving back to our Colorado farm, it soon became apparent how much last winter's heavy snows and this spring's ongoing rains have transformed the landscape of the Great Plains. Just west of Columbia, the Missouri River was still spilling onto its floodplain, taking in heavy drainage from Nebraska, Iowa and the Dakotas. In like manner, the swollen Kansas River flowed into Lawrence, swirling among trees that normally stand above its banks.
West of Topeka, the Flint Hills were emerald green and their stream beds, often just rock-lined crevices, were now washed by gurgling creeks. Near Salina, the Solomon and Saline Rivers had come down but shallow lakes still covered depressions in the Kansas crop fields. Even the High Plains of western Kansas and eastern Colorado were verdant; the sparse trees looked especially vigorous and the vast grasslands were thick and green. Farm ponds and marshes, nearly dry in recent years, were filled to the brim and reflected the deep blue western sky. It's amazing what a foot or so of precipitation can do!
