Smart Idea or Not?

Yesterday, I had an appointment in Salisbury, Maryland. It is an interesting drive through the countryside and the fringes of some of the towns along the way. Throughout the summer and fall there is farm stand every few miles. This time of year there is an abundance of winter squash and gourds, tons of pumpkins and pot after pot of mums. I am always tempted to stop and get more than I can possibly use. It was my intention to stop at a farm/nursery place yesterday but the appointment went longer than anticipated. So, I came home empty handed. But, I did come across something that was a puzzlement.

I turned onto the "major" street before the street where I was going and found this interesting layout. First glance was that it was rather attractive, the curved outcroppings alternating perfectly from one side of the street to the other (see the marked in pink on either side). The freshly painted double yellow line matched the curve of curbing perfectly (middle pink marking). This configuration goes on for little more than three blocks. These pictures were taken on my way back. Since traffic was an issue and there was no place to pull over I was not able to capture the full impact of the configuration. It is like a flat and short contrived Lombard Street in San Francisco.

The first picture was taken at the start of the configuration and has a four-way stop warning. The next picture is of the warning sign that further announces the configuration. "Traffic Calmed" my eye! Note, the speed limit is 25 which is excessive unless you can drive straight down the street. No, the camera is not distorting the waves.

Here is a better picture of the street. It is an older neighborhood bordering on commercial areas. You can see that some trees are starting to show fall color but mostly you notice the road itself. I sure hope someone doesn't try to plant trees in those areas. That wavy line is for real and it is a pain to drive. I got a little dizzy weaving from one side to the next.

And, here we are at the end of the "Traffic Calmed" area and back to regular traffic hassles.

The short trip also provided some glimpses of what is happening in the local fields. The above image is of soybeans as they near harvest time.

Many of the corn fields are being plowed down. Here is one with the dry stalks standing in the wind. They look cold and foretell of the coming season.

Last Week of June

Last week the first of the grain was harvested. The field I have been following was combined the day before I went to photograph progress. Now, I know that I cannot say with certainty whether or not the field was wheat or not I do know that it is a grain and I pretty sure that it wheat. The photos below are of an adjacent field being mowed. I am in awe of how close everything seems here.

The folks at our local farm stand say that the sweet corn will be ready in a few days. That is wonderful. I believe that the corn we get from local farms here in Sussex County Delaware is the best I have ever had. The same holds true for the local tomatoes. It is believed that this should be an excellent year for the farmers and consumers (good product) alike. Let's just hope that drought conditions like last summer do not raise their ugly heads.

Just across the road from the above crops is this field. I am pretty sure that it is barley. I love the color this grain is at this time.

While I was out taking these pictures a rain storm came into the area. As I was crossing the pond I was able to capture a turtle in rain and a couple waning cattails.

I have to admit that I enjoy going out and following the progress of the crops. Oh, I know that a lot of you are saying, "Get a life."

Not Much Happening Here

Life here has been pretty quiet the past few weeks. It has been as many say, LSD (Lower, Slower Delaware). Sunday was Father's Day and Erica came over on Saturday so she could fix her dad a special breakfast. Of course, Bill really took it all in and gushed about the pancakes which were from a recipe she got while on vacation earlier this year in the California Wine Country. Another highlight of the morning was when we saw a young beaver scamper, or whatever beaver do, across the backyard and into the adjoining field. That was a first!

We have experienced a few severe thunderstorms recently. This poor maple in the front yard was the victim of a wind shear about ten days ago. We thought we might be able to save it but then on Monday a similar gust caught it. We will probably take it out and replace it this weekend.

I had reason to be out and about yesterday and got a couple of pictures of the progress of some of the local crops. Here is the same grain field as in the last post but one week later. I love how the color changes.

This photo is of the same corn field as in the last post. It is amazing to me how fast the corn grows once it takes root.

From Pleasant to Stifling

Weather is always a favorite topic of conversation. It has been a favorite of mine in this blog. In the past few weeks I have posted that we have had some glorious days and that temperatures have been cool. Well, that was then and this is now. IT HOT! IT IS HUMID! IT IS HOT AND HUMID!! AND, THE A/C IS NOT WORKING PROPERLY. Ok, said that. It has been very uncomfortable for the past four days. We have been in major heat advisories. I secretly wished this morning to be on Snoqualmie Pass where it was snowing.

A couple of projects have kept me busy the past week. They are finished now and it is time to move onto others. One of my favorite things to do here is to drive around the countryside and take pictures of the crops. I did a lot of that last year and so far this year with the price of gas I have not ventured out as much. But, I did manage to capture some grain (one corn) shots while on a couple errand trips.

This picture, taken yesterday, shows a ripening crop. I was particularly drawn to this field because of the differences in the colors of the field. You can almost tell by the haze that it was a very hot morning (9:10 a.m.). It is good to know that the field stood well against a very strong storm that passed through last week.

This is a different angle on the same field but taken six days earlier. The grain was just starting to show signs of ripening and had stood up well to some drenching rains.

The corn is coming right along. This picture was taken last week. The corn is quite a bit higher and quite a bit fuller this week.

Harvest Time

It is said that the harvest moon is the full moon nearest the autumnal equinox. This year it fell last week. I could not get a more defining photo, however, this shows how much light filled the sky. The moon was more orange but waning last night. I love the moon this time of year. There were times when I was teaching evening classes in Spokane that I would have to stop for a few moments because the moon just seemed to fill every inch of space in windows of the room. I haven't seen it as big here but it is bright enough to walk without a flashlight.

There are tons of other harvest things going on around here. Saturday we found beautiful mums. They grow mums by the thousands here. We now have four lovely plants brightening the front porch.

Then we went on a search for pumpkins. We found all manner of pumpkins, squash, gourds and other autumn produce. The corn is just about all done for the season as are the tomatoes but we are still finding both. I love going to farm stands. They are all so much alike yet unique in every way.

This collage is some of the sites over the past few days. They is corn all exhausted in the fields, soybeans too, wagons of mums and pumpkins, purple beans on the vine and other such discoveries. We'll have more on fall I am sure.