prairie

Nothing could have provided a more suitable host than an area of prairie where native grasses had been scythed away and the ground torn up by metal ploughshares and the hooves of a farmer’s horses.

In late September, the firm invited executives from about 40 pensions, endowments and other institutions that invest in its funds to see the data center that will eventually rise from the Texas prairie.

The dusty grass verges surrounding the prison are teeming with noisy prairie dogs scurrying into their burrows whenever disturbed by prison vehicles coming and going.

Or, as one teacher put it, “the canary on the prairie.”

A short walk away is Legacy Park, an oasis of coastal prairies, bluffs and native woodlands.