The Smell of Ripe Corn is in the Air — Thursday, August 27, 2020

Posted on August 27, 2020 by Dayphoto

The time of growth is coming to an end

You can see all the brown leaves starting to show in the fields now, the tassles are going from white to yellow, to gold

Soon, very soon, maybe right after this irrigation

On both of the cornfields, we will be entering the waiting stage.

See all the golden dry leaves

The husks losing the green (they go from green to reddish-purple) then to gold

After which they fall over, the stem too dry to hold up the cob anymore

The kernels are almost all dented. (we want them to ALL be dented)

If not this irrigation, then the next.

Winding down now

The corn growing season is coming to an end.

Your friend on a western Colorado farm

Linda

Nearly Constant (the Smoke), BUT Look What is Happening, —- Wednesday, August 26, 2020

Posted on August 26, 2020 by Dayphoto

The smoke has been nearly constant, burning the eyes and smothering the land. But late evening brought a wind

That started to clear the skies from the dull light through the deep smoke

The wind gusting here and there adding to the

sweet joy of seeing the new baby alfalfa seeds taking hold and starting to grow

Even in the muted gray of the skies, and the true lack of real sunlight, the new field is starting to green up.

The evening colors weaving lushly in the sky

And bathing us with immediate relief.

Greenfields and clearer skies!

With even a hint of rain in the air!

WOW!

Your friend on a western Colorado farm,

Linda

This is Just the Best Book

Posted on August 25, 2020 by Dayphoto

Please give it a try. You can find it on Amazon (where I got mine) but after a search I found you can also get it on

https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/as-the-stars-fall-steve-n-lee/1136738212

https://books.apple.com/us/book/as-the-stars-fall/id1504483395

https://play.google.com/store/books/details/Steve_N_Lee_As_The_Stars_Fall?id=08vYDwAAQBAJ

http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0868X2L3P

http://www.amazon.ca/dp/B0868X2L3P

https://www.amazon.com.au/dp/B0868X2L3P

I was hooked from the very first chapter and couldn’t put it down. Please do yourself a huge favor and get yourself a copy. You won’t be sorry.

As the Stars Fall is a beautiful heart-rendering story! A perfect summer-time read.

Your friend on a western Colorado farm,

Linda

For a Love of the Earth —- Tuesday, August 25, 2020

Posted on August 25, 2020 by Dayphoto

The huge fires continue to burn…filling the west with weird light, a light that seems to undulate

This is morning light… the light in the east…light from the rising sun…sometimes our very air smells like burning logs,

My mind feels like it can hear the crackling of the fires as it scurries hurriedly over tense land

Every morning the scene is the same the smoke sending an enveloping warning throughout the west

The thick layer never really fades

The sun setting in the west confirms that dark will soon rise up

I am so sorry to be so gloomy

The tangle of fires from way up there where the Redwood Forrests are burning

Clear across the and down through the western part of the United States

Some started by nature

Some so horribly started by humans.

My heart is sore.

My prayer is the God(s) yours, mine, and everyone’s please sends rain, cooler weather, and a return to normal.

Amen,

From my world to your heart,

Linda

Inspiration Leads to Eureka —- Monday, August 24, 2020

Posted on August 24, 2020 by Dayphoto

Haze from the smoke settles thickly everywhere now

With hardly a breath of wind

The sun is beautiful trying to break through the blanket of low hanging smoke

Becoming tired of thinking about, trying to breathe,

I decided to take some photos of birds

All fluttering about looking for food

Checking my camera later I realized,

I actually DID get an excellent shot of a Hummingbird in full flight!

I was DELIGHTED! To say the least!

Your friend on a western Colorado farm,

Linda

Smoke Stains the Land, As the Forests Burn—-Sunday, August 23, 2020

Posted on August 23, 2020 by Dayphoto

Smoke spreads its grey self all across the hills, dales, and valleys of our area.

Changing the light into strange colors; unusual and weird. Colors that could make the hair stand up on your neck if you thought about it much.

The smoke disturbs the sunset, albeit in a rather pretty way

Chaos

Death’s Kingdom for those in the fire’s deadly path

Smoke filling the skies spitefully

The sun, no longer bright and overwhelming,

Edged and shrouded in smoke…

Available to be seen by the naked eye.

The west so needs rain. Please pray for rain…the fires are terrible here in the west…

Your friend on a western Colorado farm,

Linda

Autumn Starting to Show —Thursday, August 20, 2020

Posted on August 20, 2020 by Dayphoto

Smoke still fills the sky, day and night, night and day…and the heat wears on and on and on…Wednesday we hit 104*f ( 40c)

But, in spite of all that

Fall is in the air. Yes, I know it’s still August, but the signs are still there

The Rabbit Brush is blooming…three weeks early

The trees are starting to lighten up, with bits of yellow poking through here and there

The pinto beans are turning yellow. Once all the plants are yellow the pinto bean harvest will begin.

The daylight is shrinking (sob)

The corn is starting to dent

Although we are still irrigating. Once the corn is totally dented the water for the corn will stop. There will not be a reason to keep the water on the corn; the plant stops taking in the water, the seeds are now made.

The only thing we will keep irrigating will be the three alfalfa fields. Those we keep irrigating until sometime in October.

For you never want alfalfa to go into the winter thirsty if you do…you won’t have a field next spring.

Yes, Fall is in the air, (although this reluctant to break heat, would have a person think differently),

even the light has changed.

Your friend on a western Colorado farm,

Linda

Unease Swaddles the Land — Wednesday, August 19, 2020

Posted on August 19, 2020 by Dayphoto

There are four HUGE fires burning in Colorado right now.

Map four large wildfires Colorado

https://wildfiretoday.com/2020/08/15/four-large-wildfires-keep-firefighters-in-colorado-busy/

https://www.cpr.org/2020/08/15/colorado-wildfire-updates-2020-evacuations-closures-size/

The smoke is settling everywhere

Clinging thick; swathing the world in a horrid shroud of death and destruction

Oppressive

Abundant

(this is the sun about 4:00 p.m.)

wearily blurring the eyes and burning the lungs

The smoke speaks volumes of what the firefighters are experiencing

And all living creatures caught in the path of the fires

And the poor trees, bushes, and other plants succumbing to the passion of the flames.

Then about 4 o’clock yesterday our local newspaper reported The Mille Creek Fire near Gunnison, Colorado

Our world is sagging with the fires and the other-the-top heat (103*f —39.44c) plus the dry lightning.

Your friend on a western Colorado farm,

Linda

There Quietly Breathing; Waiting for Me —- Tuesday, August 18, 2020

Posted on August 18, 2020 by Dayphoto

While out doing ‘my work’ in the hayfield—wait I’m getting ahead of myself

When Terry bales, sometimes the bales coming out of the baler tip over-

Or twist…see the photo

So I go out to correct the bale and get it into the proper position the stack wagon can pick it up.

Otherwise, Terry has to get off the tractor, straighten the bale, get back onto the tractor…you understand.

Anyway, I was moving along several rows ahead of Terry, straightening, rolling, [fix’n] bales, and picking up rocks

When I SAW…a heart setting there in harmony with all the cut stems!

Of course, I picked it up—for home it was going to reside in my heart rock garden!

Then later that day, as I was finishing up my part of the whole process…

Right THERE…waiting patiently for me to ‘see’ it…was another heart. All covered in smudges and scratches. Just perfect for my little garden made of hearts!