Like Painted Kites

Aug 10, 2022

By Christian Begeman

Way back in 1972, just a bit before I was born, Seals and Crofts released a soft rock tune that I’ve always loved called “Summer Breeze:”

Summer breeze makes me feel fine
Blowin' through the jasmine in my mind

Six years before that, Frank Sinatra recorded one of my favorites of his, “Summer Wind,” which includes this lyric lamenting the brief joy of summer:

Like painted kites
Those days and nights, they went flyin' by
The world was new
Beneath a bright blue umbrella sky

Living on the Northern Plains, summer days (and nights) seem far too fleeting. Because of this, the songs and lyrics quoted above hold a special place in this Upper Midwesterner’s heart and trigger fond memories. Growing up along the Dewey and Ziebach county line in the heart of the dry and hot 1980s, summer storms caught my fancy. It seems we always needed rain, so when it came, everyone was happy. Most of the time, it also meant a reprieve from summer fallow duties or haying in the heat and dust. That was enough for me to love a good rainstorm, not to mention the beauty and drama of lightning dancing across the horizon to the beat of rumbling thunder.

During my junior high years, a song called “Mandolin Rain” by Bruce Hornsby and the Range was released. This tune was about missing someone once loved and how everything reminded the singer of that love, especially summer storms:

Running down by the lake shore
She did love the sound of a summer storm
It played on the lake like a mandolin
Now it's washing her away again

Listen to the mandolin rain
Listen to the music on the lake

This song takes me back to the steps of our farmhouse, where I watched distant lightning strikes and counted the seconds to see how far away they were. The beauty and drama of summer thunderstorms are still wonders and delights to this day. This summer, I found myself in the midst such a storm. I followed this epic Upper Midwest thunder boomer on my way back to Sioux Falls. From just east of Belle Fourche, where the storm dropped damaging hail, all the way to the Missouri River, I watched the drama play out across the sky. This column features photos from that trek.

Clear and moonless nights are just as enthralling for me. The Milky Way shines mysteriously in the southern sky if you are far enough from the city lights. In early June, I spent one of the most perfect, clear nights traveling across three West River counties capturing images of lonely country churches with the Milky Way as my backdrop. This column begins with those images.

The night was still and dark. I’m sure that many normally solitary varmints wondered why I was stumbling through churchyards and ditches, interrupting their nighttime activities. Hopefully the images speak for themselves. As much as I like (and need) my beauty sleep, the chance to enjoy a starry night under the vast South Dakota sky is something I am glad to experience. With August just beginning, there is still plenty of time before the snow flies to get out there and enjoy a late summer night under the stars. Happy stargazing!

Christian Begeman grew up in Isabel and now lives in Sioux Falls. When he's not working at Midco he is often on the road photographing South Dakota’s prettiest spots. Follow Begeman on his blog.