Sometimes You Feel Like an Undulating Grassland, Sometimes You Don’t
I went to go visit these famous geographical features of Central Western Washington yesterday…
No… Not that!
The other one!
Ah yes.
The Mounds. The Mina Mounds. These aren’t the only mysterious prairie mounds found in the world. Examples can be found in several, but not many parts of the world. I’ve never seen anything like them before in my life. Totally bizarre. Acre upon acre of undulating mounds under a lichen and scrub covered grassland. “Prairie Mounds” may be as yet to be definitively explained by geographers, but given that they’re all located right on the fringes of the furthest expanses of glaciers in the last Ice Age, yeah, glaciation must have something to do with why these mound fields exits.
Whatever the “Giant Prairie Dog” theorists might otherwise believe.
Now, one may not think of Western Washington as a likely place for there to be prairies at all. We’re all covered in trees, right? Just as there a few forests in Nebraska, a few flatlands in Montana and a few Democrats in Mississippi, the Evergreen State is home to patches of prairies.
Many of these prairies were artificially maintained and would have been swallowed up by the forests if not for the hand of man. 
The Native peoples recognized the value and medicinal use of several plants that would only grow on prairies, and burned away the encroaching forests, something that land management bureaucrats do to this day (along with building nice, civilized asphault walking paths).
Bury these 9-foot-tall mounds under a canopy of 80 foot tall Douglas Firs for a few thousand years, and yeah, they wouldn’t be very noticeable.
Along with a lot of neat geographical and historical stuff I learned on my voyage to West-Central Washington this weekend, I learned that they really love to shoot guns at hillsides! Damn!! I heard more live ammunition being fired in one day than I had in my whole previous life! Between the nearby gun club, the folks flying multiple model airplanes in the adjacent property and the overall landscape, it felt like I had landed a battlefield of World War One! Later in the day, a dozen miles away, I even somewhat accidentally wandered into one of their firing ranges while looking for a place to hike! (the last scene in the video)… It’s a weird experience to try and calmly walk away from a bad scene while dozens of men discharge firearms behind your back…
Video trivia question! What are the two TV shows represented in this theme music??
The Mina Mounds.
The Mina Mounds….?
Mina Mouds this J….
………..
What is where Mina’s live comedy hour Show Alec…..?
I think it’s spelled Ass Fault…..
What an amazing unique place.
I can pick out the X-files in there, but I have no idea about the other one.
I always connect mounds with boobs. I have no idea why.
There is something about mounds that I like, but I just can’t figure out what it is.
Joko, I have been unable to google Giant Prairie Dogs. I keep getting something in Kansas.
Later in the day, a dozen miles away, I even somewhat accidentally wandered into one of their firing ranges while looking for a place to hike! (the last scene in the video)… It’s a weird experience to try and calmly walk away from a bad scene while dozens of men discharge firearms behind your back…
Archived image unavailable
😯 😯 😯 😯 😯 😯 😯 😯 ❗ Good thing they didn’t know you voted for Obama… 😆 ..OK maybe bad joke…sorry! 8)
At first tune reminds me of “Northern Exposure”, but the hell if I know 😕 ??????
Second one defiantly X-files…..
I have always wanted to visit The MIMA in NYC. One day.
Mounds?
“You’ll learn more about life between the thighs of a good woman, than anywhere else.” – Anon.
Joe.