What is Beauty?

Musings on the Great Plains, the natural world and how we perceive it

I grew up on one coast, spent much of my life on another, and now live in a so-called flyover state in the middle. I am accustomed to parochial notions of what is and isn’t good and beautiful when it comes to nature.

For some, beauty is a beach. Others, a lake. For many, it is the sight of snow-capped peaks presiding over your city or town like stern-bu…