Raking Hay Assignment

Well, I'm pretty well sun-baked and worn out, but will quickly load the raw footage of yesterday's hay raking assignment.

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Husband and Son were chopping and cutting hay, respectively........in tractors equipped with cabs and air conditioning. Ma (me) was relegated to the old clodhopper, Johnny-Popper, John Deere 630. I guess the menfolk of this farm were offering me a free tanning session.......how thoughtful of them!!

I wish some knowledgable person could give info in the comments about how old the JD 630's are. I'm guessing they were new in the early 1950's or so. I could be wrong about that. I'm quite sure this tractor is older than me, and I'll be 50 VERY, VERY soon. (So soon, its making my head spin!)

Below you can see the rake which turns each swath of hay over and kind of fluffs it up so the warm sunshine and the breeze can work their magic and allow the hay to dry enough to be baled.

Good grief! You can tell what an antique this tractor is. These gauges look ancient, and I don't believe any of them work anymore. The fuel arrow stays on "E" all the time. Maybe the other ones are operating, but I don't think so........they just jerk back and forth.

Below is the gear shifting apparatus.........you push that metal arm thing into the gear slot you want. I was instructed to drive in "5th" for this hay raking session. Good! That's fairly speedy and I like that!

Here's the view from the seat........the steering wheel is big, requires two hands to hold it, and has a twirly knob, which is not in the photo.......I rarely use it anyway. That's for the skilled guys to use when they back wagons up and such, which is not my cup of tea. The shorter lever with a knob on top is the throttle.......Vrrm! Vrrm! Fun! Fun! The taller lever is the clutch.......pushing it forward makes the tractor start moving, and pulling it back again makes the tractor stop. Tractors don't have foot accelerators-----at least none do that I've ever driven.......so when you are driving a tractor, your feet are free.......Yee-ha!!You can really kick up your heels when the tractor hits pocket gopher holes and mounds!

The sun was beating down strong all afternoon, and a couple hours into my assignment I decided to go back to the house to rummage for a straw hat. What do you think?? Quite country cool and stylish.......wouldn't you say!!? A cap or hat on the head......always the pinnacle of farm fashion.

There I was, putt-zing along, lost in a dreamy reverie, brought on, no doubt by breathing the hot exhaust fumes emanating from that upright muffler, when suddenly...... what do you know.......there's company in the hay field! Husband has appeared with the round baler and that means the raking is doing its job, and the hay is dry enough to bale. Johnny-Popper and I are fulfilling our assignment!!!

Here's a somewhat clearer view of the round baler, spouting dust out of its top. (Have you figured it out yet........tractor driving must not be too difficult if I can snap photographs while driving!)

Look carefully at the photo below, or click it to enlarge the picture. It shows the baler "pooping" out a bale! Isn't that exciting!? The back half of the baler raises up, and the completed bale rolls out. (The bale is on the ground there behind the baler.) Husband can set the baler to make different sizes of bales.......the ones made this time are about medium-sized.

Here's a close-up of a newly-made bale. The baler forms the hay into a tight roll, as you can see. Plastic netting called "netwrap" surrounds the outside of the bale to hold it together. Izzy says........"I'm getting tired of holding this bale in place. Hurry up and finish writing this post, so I can step away and get this bale rolling!"

(If you think I'm pulling your leg.......you're correct! The bales don't roll very easily.......they are very heavy!)

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I hope you enjoyed this mini-seminar on hay raking. Its a tad bit different than raking leaves......its more like giving the hay a coiffure!

Parkersburg Area Tour

On my way to pick up my daughter's yellow Lab, Izzy, last Saturday, I made a point to drive through Parkersburg, the town hit by an EF-5 tornado on Memorial Day weekend.

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The twister cut a path of destruction along the south side of town; this watertower stands undamaged a bit to the south of that area. (Something else I did notice, in connection with something I wrote about in a previous blogpost, is that that the same high-voltage electric line runs just south of Parkersburg near where this watertower is.......meaning the tornado basically followed that electric line all the way east to the Dunkerton area! At least, I presume it is the same line.) That pile of stuff on the left is ruined household appliances!

There was lots of clean-up activity going on........dump trucks and endloaders at work everywhere in the rubble. These photos aren't terribly good.......click on them to see them larger.

Notice the A-frame house in the photo below.........it remained mostly intact while houses around it were destroyed. The Waterloo Courier had an article about this........the shape of the roof offered nothing for the wind to latch onto to rip it away! (I tried to find the article on the Courier website, but without success....... click here to go to the WCF Courier archives for articles about the Parkersburg tornado.)

In the foreground below is a signboard spray-painted with "Lincoln Street".......that's how they label the streets right now.

East of Parkersburg, and just west of New Hartford, this road was washed out in the recent flooding of Beaver Creek.

Below are the damaged grain bins of Sinclair Elevator Co., east of Parkersburg, near the intersection of county road T-47 and highway 57. Floodwaters from Beaver Creek are still hanging around.

Now, this was just too unusual and lovely to pass by.......a random patch of colorful flowers on the ditch embankment on the north side of highway 57, just east of Parkersburg. There were no farmsteads nearby. Mostly, the blooms were "forget-me-nots".........someone would have to have planted them here sometime in the past. I wonder why........did someone have an accident here, once upon a time, perhaps......and these flowers were planted as a remembrance???

Oh, brother........we couldn't get through the day without seeing a storm, of course!! I first noticed this one as Izzy and I were getting set to head east on U.S. 20 from I-35. I thought, "No problem.......those clouds are far away to the south......nothing to worry about."

Ha! Little did I know........the further east I traveled on U.S. 20 (which, by the way, and to my dismay, had unusually heavy semi-truck traffic on Saturday because its the detour for I-80 due to the flooding near Iowa City), the closer my path came to intersecting with the storm clouds! To avoid the nasty-looking mess, I turned north on highway 14 and went through Parkersburg again, stopping to snap this photo on the slope below the curve south of New Hartford.

Then.........onward Izzy and I drove, keeping our eyes on the patch of blue sky which was our goal, to reach home there, "on the sunny side of life", beyond the border of the menacing storm clouds!!

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This is going to sound completely idiotic, but as I drove around, taking pictures, a dog beside me there in the pickup cab.........I suddenly was reminded of Robert Kincaid from the novel, The Bridges of Madison County. Of course, he was a photographer on assignment for National Geographic.......but, he did drive a pickup......and had a dog with him, I believe.......and survived mostly on Snickers bars, apples, and Coca-Cola........sounds good to me!! (I read the book years ago because the setting was in Iowa, the author being from Cedar Falls.) Eventually, I watched the movie, too, which was filmed in the vicinity of the covered bridges in Madison County, Iowa, near the town of Winterset. The movie was so-so, but there's one scene in it which I found absolutely gripping......when Francesca [Meryl Streep] is on the brink of jumping out of her husband's pickup and running to Robert Kincaid [Clint Eastwood]'s truck, which is leaving town for the last time.....!!! Oh, I'm such a sap.......my heart was in my throat! What did Francesca decide to do?? Read the book or watch the movie to find out!!)

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Back to reality.......my son just returned home from playing summer league basketball and informed me he accidentally tossed his retainers into the garbage can at McDonald's!!! Arggh! Well, there goes $200, and we'll have to make another trip to the orthodontist's office for impressions. My son will pay the bill himself, and hopefully learn a good lesson!

Aaron Eilerts

Today is the funeral of Aaron Eilerts, one of the four Boy Scouts killed when a tornado hit the Little Sioux Scout Ranch near Blencoe, Iowa, last week. Here is a link to his obituary in the Freeman-Journal newspaper from Webster City.



It appears Aaron was an only child, and had many talents and interests. Thoughts and prayers for his grieving parents and other loved ones are needed. I can't even begin to imagine the pain they must be going through.

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Here is another link, to the newspaper from Aaron Eilert's home town of Eagle Grove, Iowa, and information about the memorial fund set up there in his name.

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Here's another page from the Eagle Grove newspaper site, which contains a U-Tube video of a KCCI-TV news report about Aaron Eilert.

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Here's another website with links to news articles about the victims of the tornado at the Boy Scout Camp.

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I read somewhere that the monks of New Melleray Abbey near Dubuque, Iowa, donated a handmade casket for Aaron's burial.

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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!!

St. Matthew Window

Well, today is a Sunday, so the post's subject will be a stained-glass window from my Lutheran church in rural Iowa.

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Here is the window for MATTHEW, disciple of Jesus Christ. The first book of the New Testament is attributed to Matthew's authorship.

In my opinion, the designer of this window certainly went to no great pains to depict Matthew as masculine-looking, IF indeed this figure even represents Matthew. Maybe it doesn't, for it appears to be an angel, with wings and golden halo.

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Recently, my sister gave me a lovely book entitled The Lives of the Saints, by Rev. Hugo Hoever, offering an entry for each day of the year. September 21st is the day for St. Matthew, and the book shows a painting of an angel looking over the shoulder of Matthew as he writes his Gospel. Maybe that is the significance of the apparent angel depicted in the stained-glass window.

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Here's one paragraph about Matthew, from the saints book:

"His apostolic activity was at first restricted to the communities of Palestine. Nothing definite is known about his later life. There is a tradition that points to Ethiopia as his field of labor; other traditions make mention of Parthia and Persia. It is uncertain whether he died a natural death or received the crown of martyrdom."

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Wait until you see how Mark, Luke, and John are portrayed in the stained-glass!! Stay tuned.

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Have a happy 5th Sunday after Pentecost........and Father's Day!! My youngest child was born on Father's Day, 1992!

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Hold everything for this update: Go to this website to read an article from a 1913 Catholic encyclopedia. If nothing else, read the last sentence!

Apparently, the window depicts a "winged man" which is the traditional symbol for St. Matthew. So, it is not an angel.

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Izzy On Board

Traveling with Izzy turned out just fine!

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Here she is, chomping at the bit to ride in the pickup!! (Her "mama" holds the leash.)

But, once settled in the pickup cab, heading out of the truck stop parking lot, Izzy turned quizzy-cal........."Woof! You turned the wrong direction! Where are you taking me?"
Since we were in the area, I wanted to go take a gander at the wind turbines near Blairsburg. Izzy found them fascinating, too!

After that, she relaxed and enjoyed the ride! We saw tornado debris in Parkersburg and sandbags in Cedar Falls, and we traveled in tandem with a thunderstorm.......we'll show you those pictures soon!

Wish Me Luck

Here's what the hay fields look like right now:

The pink blooms are clover, and the purple ones are alfalfa (click the picture and it will enlarge so you can see better). Normally, we never see the purple alfalfa blossoms because Husband cuts the hay before they appear, but this year its been too wet so far to cut the hay fields.

The plant towering above is bladder campion, an opportunistic wildflower with a white bloom; they grow all the place on our farm and in the road ditches......they're more like a weed, I guess. Its scientific name is silene cucubalus. It has a "bladder", a calyx sac, resembling a tiny melon, which forms beneath its flower. Someday, maybe I can get a decent photo of that little oddity.

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SO WHY DO I NEED LUCK TODAY? I have to leave now and drive an hour to I-35 to meet my daughter and her big, goofy yellow lab, Izzy. Izzy is then riding home with me to spend a week while my daughter and her husband take a belated honeymoon to the Cozamel area. I'm taking the pickup since I'd rather not have Izzy in the Envoy, so WISH ME LUCK as I drive with a big dog there in the cab with me. Maybe this is a test to see if I'm ready to be a grandmother!!?? Just kidding, kids.

I hope to leave early and swing by Parkersburg to see the tornado-damaged part of town. The news reports are showing frantic sandbagging going on in Iowa City today in effort to save the University of Iowa campus and city power facilities from floodwaters. The crest isn't expected there until NEXT TUESDAY!!!! Yikes!

Enjoy your Saturday!!

Sky Watch Friday

Hey.........go visit Sky Watch Friday at Wigger's World blog.

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I joined the Sky Watch list for the first time today, with this cloud/sky photo.

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There's many, many, many very beautiful sky and cloud photos from around the world on Sky Watch Friday!!

Tim Russert Dies

This is sad.........I enjoyed watching and listening to Tim Russert over the years.

Tim Russert died today.

Which Way'd She Go?

"Moo.......who you lookin' for??

You lookin' for Jeannelle?

We saw here earlier this morning......

She went that-a-way......"

"This-a-way....chirp, chirp.....

Yeah, we saw her snoopin' around this doorway earlier.

Don't know where she went, though."

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"Meow........I ain't seen her either........meow!

Stranded I may be, but grateful to not be a black cat today!!"

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Happy Friday the 13th!!

Looking Southeast

This photo was taken from our mailbox this afternoon, looking toward the southeast.........Cedar Rapids is located in that direction, about 60 miles away, as the crow flies. You can see the dark blue cloud mass over that area in the distance. Besides the massive flooding going on today in CR, there are also heavy rains falling there, adding insult to much injury.

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Another thing I've noticed the past couple days is a low, deep rumble coming from the south. I think that would have to be the sound and vibration of all that water rushing through in the Cedar River, which runs northwest to southeast, about 14 miles south of us, as it heads toward Cedar Rapids.

And once more, I'll have to say........the clouds have been simply fascinating during this past week with the storm fronts coming and going.

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I just now stumbled into this acerbic blog.........but, he has a cool photo of the flooding in Cedar Rapids, and a link to the CR Gazette, where he used to be a religion(?) columnist.

Cedar Rapids Under

I just turned on the noon TV news........the scenes of the flooding in the heart of Cedar Rapids are stunning. They're calling it a 500-year flood, now! (Update: My husband says that is an insurance concept meaning there is a 1-in-500 chance that a flood of this size will happen in a given year. But, the newspeople keep calling it "a 500-year flood". Update #2........Ok, the newscasters finally explained it this way: A 100-year flood has 1% chance of occurring in any given year.........and a 500-year flood has a 0.2% chance of the same. This current flood in CR is deemed the latter, and covers what is designated as the 500-year floodplain. I figured you would be totally interested in having this explained to you.)

KCRG - TV

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KGAN - TV

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We don't get TV stations from Des Moines, but I'm sure things are bad there, too.

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WHO - TV

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I Need A Cloud Book

On my bookshelf are two bird books, a rock book, and three prairie flower books, but not a single book about clouds. Hence, I can't tell you the name of this particular cloud type, seen above our farmstead late yesterday afternoon.

As I had commented in an earlier post, this wild, volatile weather pattern gripping Iowa right now seems to produce unusual cloud scenes, especially between storm fronts.
From listening to the meteorologists, I've gathered that the bright sunny weather between storm fronts is actually a bad thing........it causes the air to heat up and lots of energy is then available for the storms to use in a violent manner. I never knew that before.......that sunshine could be a dangerous thing......(besides the UV rays which damage skin, of course).

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Evidently then, we should be grateful that the sky is overcast with rain clouds this morning. During the night, we were gifted with another two inches of rain.......causing lots of little rivers and ponds in the fields again.

But, I am not complaining........this is very, very minor compared to the massive flooding going on along most of the rivers in Iowa. Not to mention, also, the horrendous experience those Boy Scouts in western Iowa had last evening when a tornado ripped through their camp in a wooded area near Blencoe, killing four boys and injuring many more. Here's a link to an Omaha TV station that has info.

Depression Observations

Depressing weather brings thoughts of......what else.......depression!!

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Two years ago, I was diagnosed Bi-polar/Type 2 following an episode which I suppose in former times would have been termed a "nervous breakdown." I spent several days in a hospital psychiatric unit. After talks with the psychiatrist, and analyzing memories of past bad spells in my life, I realized I'd probably been struggling with this type of depression for many years. I hadn't known enough to take the problem to the doctor. When I would reach a point of collapse, my mom would come over and help with the kids for a few days, and I rested. Probably, rest was mainly what was needed, anyway, for I felt just totally depleted and drained during those times. In the hospital, I recall feeling like a deflated balloon.......flattened, like roadkill, or that "Flat Stanley" or whatever his name is who gets sent around the world by schoolchildren.

Once in a while, when I was a kid, I'd hear my mom mention in hushed tones that so-and-so had had a "nervous breakdown". I'd envision the person lying collapsed on the floor, quivering; I couldn't imagine what else a "nervous breakdown" could possibly be like.

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My parents would also speak of people being taken to the "Silo", that term being a corrupted form of the word "Asylum", which in our area means the Mental Health Institute in Independence, Iowa. Its eerie, gothic buildings were built in the 1800's, and I imagine anyone who "went crazy" or had a mental episode back then was taken to that spooky place, sometimes staying indefinitely. It gives me chills to think about it........I could have ended up at the "Silo"!!

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Actually, my parents each had a sibling who spent time in the "Silo".......I recall those times from when I was a kid. Now, after my own experiences with mental problems, I feel these aunts of mine were probably bi-polar, but misdiagnosed as schizophrenic, and put on scads of medications for the rest of their lives. A major depressive episode can include delusions, which mine did.......and it doesn't necessarily mean there's schizophrenia going on.

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After much pondering, I also wonder if the ones who "go crazy" do so as a result of trying to deal with the "normal" people in our lives. Since my breakdown, there are certain people-----close family members, even------who I must avoid spending much time with. I can just feel something adverse happening in my mind when I'm around them. If the person is someone I can't get away from, then I must construct a barrier in my mind and ignore certains aspects of the person. And, no doubt, there are things about me that others must ignore........maybe "normal " people do that naturally, and it simply took me the good share of a lifetime to figure out that barriers and boundaries are necessary.

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One of the blogs in the list to the right is written by a Lutheran pastor who wrestles with depression, I Trust When Dark My Road. He blogs anonymously, so I have no idea who he is or where he lives, and I have no idea if he ever visits my blog. Its courageous of him to do a blog on depression, especially since he's an LCMS pastor, part of a denomination which has historically sort of looked the other way concerning the subject of mental illness. Ach! Good solid Lutherans who trust in Gott won't get depressed!!

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Most likely, "normal" people in society have always feared the "crazy" ones. Fear of the the odd and the unknown prevailed. Things have improved much over time, as knowledge increased about the true nature of mental disorders........that they have a physical origin. Gosh, certain theologies must have had to scramble to change their view that depression results from the sin of not having enough faith and trust.

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Occasionally, I leave a comment on the above-mentioned blog, whose author refers to himself as "DMR" (for Dark My Road). I think of him as "Deemer". He probably doesn't care for what I say in the comments; I'm not in favor of taking medications, and he believes otherwise, and that's OK. Also, I don't mention God, or the Cross, or the Bible very often, for I worry about coming across as smug, which Christians often do, especially Lutherans, in my opinion. Each person's journey with depression is unique. Do I believe God has helped me.......yes, of course! God, who sets our path through life, brought the depression into my life in the first place, for some reason which ultimately has a useful purpose. I have learned much about myself and others through my experiences; I wouldn't want to be without that knowledge now.

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I believe Deemer is in the process of writing a book about his experiences as a depressive pastor........good for him! I will hope to read it. He has also stopped taking meds, and I pray the best for him in that area, too.

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Fields can have depressions.......did you know that? A few evenings ago, shortly after a rain, I took a walk down to the "crick" that runs through our farm. The "crick" is basically a man-made drainage ditch, providing a place for water to travel through the fields in a contained manner, preventing soil erosion. Sometimes, the rain comes so hard and fast that gullies are formed in the fields, anyway, which you can see in the photo below:

Water will simply always find a way to flow from the higher areas to the lower.......to the depressions in the fields.

The water flows relentlessly to the depressions, filling them up, then must find a way to move onward, eventually leaving the depressed place empty. Below, you can see that water has broken through and formed a channel from the field depression into the drainage ditch. Once the depression is free of the excess water, it can dry up and be a productive part of the field again.

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It may sound corny, but this blog is my channel to release excess thoughts that build up in my mind, helping me to maintain normal everyday mind functioning. I would much rather do this than take medications.......I was put on meds at the hospital, but it was intolerable-----I felt off-balance in body and mind-----and stopped taking them shortly after I got home.

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Blogging is my way of digging a channel for excess mind activity to flow through. Lots of walking, also, helps keep the feel-good chemicals flowing in the brain. Adequate sleep is crucial for me, too, as well as plenty of solitude. Perhaps if I took meds, it would eliminate the need to blog, or walk, or spend time alone, or get enough sleep........but, that's not a trade-off I'm interested in. I need to be myself, and live what I am.........what God has created me to be.........a depressive.

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Does blogging provide a therapeutic haven for other depressives? Writing in general can serve that purpose, perhaps, but not many of us will ever get a book published. Blogging may be the next best thing. Depressives could do worse things than blog; that I do know for a fact!!

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I'm certainly not fishing for anyone to 'fess up in the comments section.......the subject of depression was on my mind, that's all.

Amazing Cloud Link

This photo taken last evening in Osage, Iowa, is amazing and frightening!

(Click the third photo in the bottom row.)

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Photos of flood damage to roads and bridges in Iowa.

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8:15 update: I just checked in on Sugar Creek Farm blog and she has the amazing cloud photo from Osage on her post for today! Her aunt took the photo!! Click over there to take a look.......truly, it is something to see!

Crop Report

This morning I walked out to scan the sky and check up on the status of the crops.

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Looks like this weedy grass is thriving! Weeds always do! Thus, the origin of that saying we endured hearing from old people when we were kids, "You're growing like a weed!"

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The corn.......well.......it is growing, but is rather far behind the usual size for this time in June. Spring was delayed this year, resulting in late planting, and the fields have been battered by wind and too much rain. These baby corn plants are about 7 inches tall right now. (There's a maple tree near this cornfield, hence the bunches of seed helicopters lying around.)

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Hey, here's a bright spot........the oats and peas look pretty good!! The grassy-looking stuff is oats, and the peas have the oval leaves. This yummy mixture will eventually be chopped for the cows to eat.

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Lastly, here's a photo of the sad, little soybeans........it appears as if something's been chewing on them, though, its most likely due to the recent weather conditions.

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Shucks.......I just realized I forgot to include a photo of a hay field.........but, you all know what alfalfa looks like, right?? In a normal year, we would be busy baling the summer's first crop of hay right now, but its been too wet to even cut the alfalfa yet! What a deal.......and the cows are getting hungry!!

Flood Links

Links for area flood reports:

KWWL - Waterloo/Cedar Falls

KCRG - Cedar Rapids

KIMT - Mason City

WHO - Des Moines

Sweet William: AKA Phlox

Despite the fact that FLOODING is a major concern in Iowa right now.........the subject for this post is FLOX........I mean, PHLOX........Prairie Phlox to be exact, the kind currently blooming in our road ditch, a holdover from the era of the tall-grass prairie.

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When I was a kid, the adults in my life referred to this ditch wildflower as "Sweet William" (more on that later). I've been wishing to show you the various color shades of Prairie Phlox. I didn't adjust the color of any of these photos, except to darken the scenes a bit.

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First of all, the white:

Then there's light lavendar:

And, light rosy pink:

Lastly, this isn't a very good photo, but its trying to show the darker rosy pink shade:

At the top right of the blog is a photo showing a butterfly on a Phlox. Yesterday, after walking my usual route along the road checking out the Phlox patches in the ditch, I had started to return up the driveway when I heard an unusual birdsong........coming from the other direction on the road, where I normally don't go. Honestly, this was my thought, "Ok, bird, you're telling me to walk your way for some reason, and, it had better be a good one!" And, it was! There was another patch of Phlox over there, and a butterfly was fluttering about, engaged in his daily nectar gathering, offering me an opportunity to catch him in action on camera!

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Back to the Sweet William/Phlox issue.........I've looked it up in the three wildflower books I have here at home. One of the books has "Sweet William" in its index, and, if I'm understanding the information correctly, that nickname actually refers to the version of wild Phlox shown below, with its blooms forming an elongated, taller cluster. We saw many patches like this on our way up to the Mall of America the other day; the photo below was taken near the red crane at Rosemount, MN.

"Sweet William" is also another name for the Dianthus flower, some of which I have purchased and planted in our perennial flower beds near the house.

Click here to read the Wikipedia entry for Dianthus/Sweet William, which also includes info about the historical origin of the name "Sweet William".

In the ditch below our mailbox there is usually a small patch of this Sweet William type of Phlox, but it blooms later in June.

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Enjoy Phlox season........it passes by too quickly!!!

(I'm going upstairs now to camoflage the gray hairs, with Clairol Navajo Bronze........a very nice color, actually! If you're still blessed with non-gray hair, be ecstatic.......like Phlox season, it will pass by too quickly, also!)

Ominous Sunset

The volatile weather pattern holding Iowa hostage does at least provide for some spectacular sunsets. This evening, the beauty is tempered by the fact that a severe thunderstorm is going on 40 miles away where those dark blue clouds slant upwards on the northwest horizon. The storm area includes the Osage vicinity where the Sugar Creek Farm blog originates. She hasn't posted for a few days, making me wonder if they are dealing with flooding at their farm. Thoughts and prayers go out for them.

There's record high flooding going on right now along the Cedar River.......Waverly, Cedar Falls, and Waterloo are inundated with water. We watch the news reports in horrified awe, and hope and pray that the weather forecasts for more heavy rain the next two days are absolutely wrong!!

All is fine here at our farm. Fields are damp, but we're in no danger from flooding, as we don't live near a river. The worst problem this evening is that there's a bat flitting around on the porch!