Earth Tones

This scene just south of Greenville gave me the urge to break out my palette of earth tones and paint. Too cold, so I settled for a photo. The umbers, ochres and siennas come from ground-up clays, and this scene could be the source of many of the pigments used to paint it.
I decided to "google" (v.) earth tones and uncovered an amusing array of websites. Not surprising some would be music groups. There is a brief Wikipedia entry more or less defining earth tones as used in art. One that gave me pause was a source of dial tones of endangered species. This creepy idea reminded me of a scene in that great science fiction film, Soylent Green, in which Edward G. Robinson (in his last film) goes to an assisted suicide facility. While he peacefully passes away, he is teated to video clips of flowery meadows, waterfalls, and wildlife as it once was. I suppose a portion of the profits from ringtones of endangered species might be used to help save such species. My cynical side says most purchasers are not paying enough attention to the species in their own immediate environment. A study not so long ago showed that kids in elementary school knew more about the Amazon rain forest than their own local environment. MacDonald's was even in on saving the rain forest. Don't you love the irony?
Back to the meadow. I drive by this spot twice a week, and i am eagerly waiting for it to turn bright green and become one of my regular stops for photographing wildflowers and bugs.