In the Tallgrass

Against a black background, green lettering.

Words read “In the Tallgrass”

An animated white butterfly flies past the words.

The words disappear.

An animation.

Blue skies above green rolling hills and a green meadow with tallgrass and wild flowers.  

Birds fly.

An orange and yellow butterfly flap their wings as they fly above the meadow. 

They swoop down and around wild flowers.

Pink flowers grow among the tall green grass. 

An orange butterfly flutters above the petals before flying away. 

Swooping down alongside the green flower stalks and passing bright, green leaves.

Along a green branch a red ladybug crawls. 

The ladybug flies away. 

Zooming passed the stalks of wild flowers and blades of tallgrass.

Among the tall green grass flowers with orange petals.

Sunflowers.

A bee hovers over a flower as another bee rests on a stem slowly flapping its translucent wings.

Above the tallgrass and pink flowers a black and orange butterfly flaps its wings as it rests on a pink flower.

The wind picks up.

The flower sways back and forth.

The butterfly flies over to two tall flowers with yellow drooping petals.

Beneath the tallgrass. 

Small purple flowers.

The purple flowers sway gently in the breeze.

Around the purple flowers bumble bees hover.

On a pink flower, a black winged butterfly clings.

Along a green leaf red and black insects crawl.

A large orange and black moth with black rimed, translucent wings flies around.

A pale orange daddy longlegs slowly lowers himself down onto a green leaf.

A dragon fly flies above the flowers and tallgrass. 

Another dragon fly clings to a blade of grass and slowly flaps its wings.

A pale green and yellow caterpillar on a cylindrical shaped stem goal.

A bird swoops past and snatches up the caterpillar.

An ant crawls out of the stem goal and makes its way down along a dark gray stalk.  

Light brown ferns.

Green leaves on plants.

A pale pink and red moth clings onto a green stalk. 

Towering above the grass, yellow flowers.

Between the flowers, a circular spider web.

Across the web, a spider crawls, weaving the web.

Across a bright, blue sky, white clouds move rapidly.

The spider crawls around the web in a circle weaving an intricate pattern.

The sky darkens.

Night falls.

The dark sky is dotted with bright shining stars.

Above the grass, a firefly hovers. The lower part of its body glows bright green in the dark.

Across the grassy meadow, tiny specs of bright green light illuminate the dark sky.

In the sky a crescent moon.

Across the grass,  a blanket of bright green lights blink on and off. 

Three fireflies fly up into the dark night sky.

Credits roll.

Words read.

Animation, Erin Anfinson.

Music, Clara Lorraine

Created with support from The National Park Service Artist-In-Residence Program, Herbert Hoover National Historic Site, 2017.

Middle Tennessee State University, Faculty and Creative Research Activity Committee.