By Scott Shephard

There’s much that I could say about this photo. But before I tell you where this is and have you look to the right, I want you to indulge me for a minute or two: I want to talk numbers.

South Dakota is the 46th least crowded state. There are about 11 of us per square mile. If you give each of us an equal share of that square mile, we would each have 2.6 million square feet to play with. That’s enough room for a house, a swimming pool, a horse or two and maybe a small 9 hole golf course.

My more gregarious readers may shiver at the thought of having to walk (or ride one of your horses) a quarter mile to visit your closest neighbor. But there’s a certain appeal in that for someone like me.

Nevertheless, the emptiness of this scene - SD Highway 20 in the NW quadrant of SD - may also make some cringe. There are so few trees and the land looks so barren. There are no houses, no cars and no people. But for someone like me who, on the very last day summer, was lucky enough to be able to rise above this landscape and see it as an eagle might, I saw, to quote a famous explorer, “wonderful things.”

As I’ve said many times, I wish you had been here with me. This empty stretch of road holds a certain beauty but if you look to off to the right as you fly along this highway, you would see the setting of the campground Deb and I are staying at. There are even more wonderful things . . .