Sand Prairie Scrub Oak Nature Preserve

"The deep ruts in the road were frozen and glazed with ice; the wind had a clean sweep across the prairies, a sweep that sometimes seemed about to carry Jethro before it. Tears froze o nhis cheeks, and the cold pounded against his forehead as he trudged along, weighted by the heavy, over-sized shoes and the many layers of clothing. It was bitter, but not beyond the ordinary; suffering at the mercy of the elements was accepted by Jethro as being quite as natural as the hunger for green vegetables and fresh fruit that was always with him during the winter."
-from Irene Hunt's Across Five Aprils

"In the summer the sun was so hot it burnt everything yellow dry. Some days the heat was so intense that we were not allowed outside the shade of the house. One day I saw the horizon swimming in ripples like water and, as I watched, shapes began to appear."
from Brett Harvey's My Prairie Year: Based on the Diary of Elenore Plaisted

Settlers found few trees and fewer lakes or ponds to help them escape from the intense summer heat. There were few trees to shade them. Throughout the summer they were plagued by swarms of insects. 

In winter, freezing ice storms left everything coated in thick sheets of ice. Intense winds swept the prairie bringing swirling snow. People got lost travelling from one town or homestead to another in these snowstorms. Farmers even tied ropes between their barns and homes to lead them to and from their animals during blizzards.
 
  

Sand Prairie Scrub Oak Nature Preserve