Backroads of Morrow County Update:
Hot. Humid. Dry. Some of the backroads have been tarred to reduce the dust, I suppose. One short section was being repaved today. It's maybe fifty yards of pavement in the middle of six to eight miles of gravel road. Someone must have clout. Or else everyone else loves their munificent red barn as much as I do. It's a lovely little farmhouse too. No fields, unless they own the massive hilly tract around the corner. Knee deep in corn this summer. I love the hills as well. When I grow up and become a farmer . . .
The roadsides are still green for the most part. Some sprinkles of blue chicory. Lots of orange day lily hangouts. Feathered friends on the wires of course. Red-wings, the loyal mourning doves, cardinals, hawks, a redheaded woodpecker or two. And myriads of barn swallows--my velvet jet-propelled friends. Some of them joined me as I mowed the front of The Acres today. Not a whole lot of human traffic, but as always, everyone has the waves--even the road workers.
Crop-wise, most of the corn looks good. Soy beans--not so much. This week--especially today--must have been wheat harvest time. I miss the golden grains once they are gone though the fields retain the golden strands until a couple of good rains. First, they reap the wheat, then they make hay of the stubble--nothing wasted. I love wheat fields, then the corn, and last the soy beans (a distant third.) Many fields dotted with hay bales as well. As you know. I love that scene. If only I could paint. My Ziff cousins got all the talent in that area--and it's considerable.
Perhaps some rain is on the way to rescue the soy beans and get the Queen Anne's Lace up and about along the sides of the roads. The mosquitoes were active today. Maybe they know some is coming. I certainly contributed all I could to the continued thriving of the species.
A few surprises at The Acres in addition to the return of the elderberries. Blue flag iris in one of the beds--who knows from where and why a month late. Astilbe in the swamp itself. (I am worried about my cardinal flowers.--I hope the late freeze this spring didn't get them. They were spreading like crazy across the bog. All those red beauties surrounded by numerous hibiscus in every shade from white to red. Tall pink Queen of the prairie--think meadow sweet in hazy pink instead of white. Yellow sneezeweed mixed in. Lots of milkweed. Makes for a lovely fall vista.) I do have some hair allium in the meadow--exotic and beautiful. If it rains, it will be "exciting" to see what responds. Needless to say, The Acres and the Backroads are as gorgeous as ever--different gorgeous each year--but always gorgeous.
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