Just after sunrise the light has a golden quality like it’s shining through a jar of honey

The sky in the West is “Advent blue,” the color of hope and optimism

The curves of the prairie are amber and warm beige like blessings and peace

Driving to work one morning I was struck by the colors. I didn’t have my Cannon camera with me and wasn’t going to try to capture the landscape with my phone camera while driving, but I’m an occasional amateur poet, so I thought about what I’d write to describe the scene. Since I’ve been teaching Commercial Art students about using both the vector graphics app “youidraw.com” (like Adobe illustrator, but free) and the layout design app “Lucidpress.com” (essentially a free online imitation of Adobe InDesign) I developed a simple abstract design of colors and placed the poem over it.