Monday, June 16, 2008

Hay & Fathers' Day

While I was traveling to pick up Izzy on Saturday, Husband was finally able to cut some hay. I hope you can see the swaths lying on the ground in the photo below. Husband had to quit cutting when he was chased out of the field by......what else.......a downpour of rain!!

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"Red sky at morning, sailors take warning.
Red sky at night, sailors delight."
(Is that how the old saying goes??? I can't recall for sure.)
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Here would be a version for the present:
"Red sky at sunset,
Iowa, more storms you will get!"
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This was our sunset scene from Saturday evening........Fathers' Day eve:

Those clouds near the horizon, brightly outlined with light were very intriguing! I should have known, though, that they were towering thunderheads headed in our direction. (Also, doesn't that bird appear to be flying above the flames of Hades!!!)

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A few hours later, at around 1:30 a.m., I awakened to thunder and lightning to the west. Great......ANOTHER storm coming through. Despite the ungodly hour, I put on my bathrobe and squished through the wet lawn to try and get a picture of a lightning bolt. A few nights ago, I had tried, too, but with no success........ I could never catch the lightning flashes in time.

I turned on the weather radio and listened through the static to the recorded electronic voice which sounds like Arnold Schwarzenegger. It reported that this storm front was going to miss us........it was headed in a more southeasterly direction, toward......where else.......Cedar Rapids and Iowa City!!

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Fathers' Day dawned cool and clear. After chores, church, and noon meal, I was exhausted and sank into the recliner to read the Waterloo Courier and Des Moines Register. The rest of the gang went outdoors and played "Blong Ball" (The photo loaded the wrong way for some unknown reason.), otherwise known by some as "ladder golf" and "_____ _ _ ___" ( a name I'd rather not say, but rather appropriate for Fathers' Day).

The fam kept hollering for me to come out and play, too, but, golly, I absolutely did not want to. I so strongly felt the need to sit for awhile.......I've had a sore knee lately, which is very unusual.......I've never had knee trouble, and I don't want it!!! Probably, now, because I'm about to turn 50, things are going to start going kaput. Sheesh!

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So, I enjoyed the newspapers, and then began to doze. At some point I saw the dreamy reflection of this windmill in the window nearby, and was prompted to get up from my cozy recliner to find the camera and take a picture. Exciting, huh!!


I hope your Father's Day was as peaceful and pleasant ours was here!!

12 comments:

Anonymous said...

Are you saying you have a new blongoball set? (Never knew that's what is it called!) We saw so many of those at campgrounds last summer that we got one at Christmas. Fun stuff.

Now, please tell us more about that last picture ???

Jeannelle said...

Hi, caution,

Oh.....too funny.....I somehow, accidentally published the blogpost before I wrote the text to go with it! Pretty stupid....I hit the wrong key somewhere! You would have to catch me at it!

Anyway, please come back and read the explanations!

Hope you guys had a fun Fathers' Day!

Pat - Arkansas said...

Your windmill reflection photo is wonderful! Glad you noticed it.

Your sky photos are great; red, red sunset and, is that lightening in the other? If not, something was sure lighting up the sky. Good shot.

Hope the hay dries out enough to bale or whatever you folks do with it.

How's Izzy taking all this family activity?

Jeannelle said...

Hi, Pat!

Come back and read the explanations for the photos!

Izzy has a blast on the farm.....she loves getting dirty and then playing in water, over and over, again.

Anonymous said...

I am an innocent! Now I'll have to ask around to figure out that other name!

Jeannelle said...

caution,

Ask some teen-age boys......

Russell said...

Wow! Some VERY nice photos!! I love the red sky! AND the photo you took at night is GREAT! I really like that one!

The windmill caught my attention, too. I like the hazy effect.

Sounds like you all had a good day. I can almost hear the sounds coming from the yard as everyone is out there!

There is a story about Harmon Killebrew, the legendary Minnesota Twins baseball player. It seems he and his children were out wrestling around on the lawn one day. His wife came to the door and yelled "Hey! You are ruining the grass!!"

Harmon allegedly said "We are raising a family - not grass!" I always liked that story and thought of it as you described your afternoon!

Take care!

Judy said...

Beautiful sunset photo...even if it spells trouble!

So what is happening with your rinsed-clean hay? Ours is being chopped at the moment.

Ladder ball is a fun game...we have a set that comes out for picnics, etc. We first saw it being played at an RV park in Iowa a few years back. We downloaded the design from the internet and made our own game.

Jeannelle said...

Hi, Judy!

"rinsed-clean hay"......that's cute! And, definitely an apt description!

Today our son is cutting more of the hay and my husband is readying the chopper. I hope your hay-chopping goes smoothly!

That's neat you guys made your own "ladder golf" outfit! My daughter and son-in-law gave us this set as a gift.

Jeannelle said...

Russell,

I really like the Harmon Killebrew story......something good to remember!!

Anonymous said...

Jeannelle, what excellent photo's. The windmill one was simply superb. You could easily get a job being a photog for a newspaper. Glad you had such a pleasant father's day! You guys have the most magnificent sunsets there. I thought ours were great but nothing compared to that deep red.

Jeannelle said...

Hi, Sherry,

Thanks for the kind words. I think because we have open fields around us we have a good view of sunsets and sunrises (if only I were more of an early riser to see those!!).