That evening we turn in early as the alarm is set for four am. When I close my eyes I can hear the roar of cars at the Demolition Derby across the road, a highlight of the Norman County Fair. It's a cold ride before sun-up the next morning as we take Minnesota Hwy. 9 toward Bluestem Prairie. Snuckered down into my jacket, I watch first light widen above a large pasture.
Fog is a fragile spiderweb hanging in all directions.
I motion for Richard to stop. We climb off the bike and watch as the sky seems to crack open with red light. Slowly, the upper half of the ball of sun lays on the eastern horizon. For a moment it looks like a flaming prairie fire. That it is also one of the highest quality prairie sites in the United States becomes quite evident as we ride up.