Images of nature by Frank Staskiewicz, Jr.
Images of nature by Frank Staskiewicz, Jr.
Nebraska has long been known as “the good life” and those words have been used to promote the state for many years as a great place to exist, whether as a resident or a visitor. As a proud lifelong Nebraskan, I wanted my business name, and now my updated logo, to reflect the same.
My home state may not have tall mountains but it sure does have spectacular sunsets all year round. Thus the sun in the logo is setting behind a unique geological feature of the state – the seemingly desolate yet beautiful Sandhills. This expansive mixed-grass prairie region and its grass-stabilized sand dunes, located in the north-central part of the state, covers one quarter of the Nebraska landscape.
In the foreground of the logo is the historic Platte River formed by the North and South Platte rivers converging east of the city of North Platte. Mormon pioneers followed the Platte then the North Platte during their quest to reach Utah’s Great Salt Lake Valley. Other pioneers followed the Oregon Trail, which intersected the Platte River at Fort Kearny, located just south of today’s city of Kearney.
From overhead the river appears beautifully braided by a multitude of sandbars. Each spring nearly half a million sandhill cranes migrate from the south to a 75-mile stretch of the Platte in central Nebraska. Here they stop to rest and refuel for roughly 30 days before continuing their arduous journey to breeding grounds in Canada, Alaska, and even Siberia, just as they’ve done for thousands of years. These magnificent birds dine and loaf in nearby fields by day then parachute into the river at sunset for protection from predators.
Frank Staskiewicz, Jr.
