Out of the Blue…
It is the time of year when we disappear into the fields. After the ground-nesting birds have raised their young, we mow brush and weeds on about 180 acres. These days could be monotonous as we drive miles around and around, but they aren't. There is always something interesting to observe.
I keep a look out for prairie plants to let go to seed and pondering.
Was that Blue Lobelia? Can I grow Gray Dogwood on that steep hillside behind the house? Why is the Early Goldenrod doing so well this year while there is a lot less Showy Goldenrod? Are there more Monarchs this year? There's a nice patch of Virginia Mountain Mint! Looks like there will be a lot of Joe Pye Weed seed to collect. The barn swallows and dragonflies that follow us gobbling up gnats remind me of seagulls flocking around ships.
St John's Wort
Meanwhile Mark ponders projects he is working on and forms his observations into Haiku.
(A Haiku is an adaptation
of a
Japanese poem format using seventeen syllables, in three lines of five, seven, and five, traditionally evoking images of the natural world.)
1.)
From a high treetop
I watched as a bright leaf falls
All the way to ground
2.)
Mowing fields stirs grass
Dragonflies rise mantis too
Swallows dart above all
3.)
Squadron circles above
Vulture shadows swim ahead
May be time for home
4.)
Purple thistle down
Bright orange wings explode upwards
Butterflies surprise!
5.)
Large shapes distant hills
Dark and light moving through grass
Giant cloud shadows dance
6.)
Joe Pye Weed fireworks
Explode like Fourth of July
If you like lilac
7.)
Mantis rise to pray
An early Sunday morning
I join in worship
8.)
Colorful bracelets
Suddenly coils, quickly strikes
Twice, silly milk snake!
In between time on the tractors, we shoehorned in organizing the basement on the hot afternoons. But better yet time with friends and family (using social distance and outdoor time for safety)
Claire, Larson and Gunner, the Wonder Dog
A Low Country Boil with friends
A trip to a sunflower farm.
This year, we started mowing right after the Derecho with hurricane winds and not enough rain. Because Iowa City was without electricity Monday through Friday, we got a bonus visit from Claire and Larson along with the contents of their fridge and freezer. Lots of good cooking and company!
A couple of big limbs and trees down, but no real damage. We were lucky!
The road was strewn with trees. The crews soon had it cleared!
And we continued through a heatwave which made us wonder how the days can be insufferably humid while we need rain. As we neared the end of the mowing days, we were happily thinking that we were fairly efficient this year. Both tractors had their annual maintenance right before we started and we have less distractions due to COVID 19. And then we had a bump in the road with tractor trouble; an electrical system mystery with one tractor not starting and a flat tire on the other. But, as they say, some days are diamonds, other are dust. And even our dusty days are good days.