Eating Dust!

 An old horseman's saying is;  "Make dust, don't eat it!"  Well, today Mari Jo & I ate a lot of dust!  Harvesting is in full swing in the fields along the Wabash Trace Trail!  We could hear the equipment in the fields, even if the trees hid the work-in-progress.

Mari Jo stops so I can get a picture~

Of course our state is way behind in rainfall & it's the driest I've seen it since we moved here almost six-years ago.  June's preceptation was 3.75", 1.51 below normal for the month.  There was some improvement in May, but that changed in June according to Iowa DNR. SW Iowa is the driest in the state...  August marked the fifth month in a row of below normal statewide average preciptitation.

Harvesting soy beans~

At the clearings though - we could see the farmers hard at work.  The air was so full of dust it was almost hard to breathe.  We hadn't picked the best of days to ride, but the weather has been wonderful, if not for being so dry.  Of course now - I think of wonderful as any day that's 80 degrees or below - without our summertime high humidity.

Loading into the truck~

It was fun to watch as the work progressed & the fields were stripped of their crops.  At one point on our return to Silver City, Mari Jo pointed out a tiny, young opossem in the middle of the trail ahead of us.  He was frozen to the spot, but when we stopped, he finally scurried off into the timber at the trail's edge.  I felt sorry for him & the other critters who make their summer home in the fields.  Time to move out - that's for sure!

Smokey in front of fall color!

We took our usual short break in Malvern, before heading back.  Not far out of town, was this area of blazing color!  Of course the bright reds are posion ivy - but its certainly a standout this time of year!

Harvester at work~

This picture gives a better idea of how much dust is stirred up as the fields are cleared. Of course we had a decent wind out of the SE & a few good gusts pushing it our direction.  We've very lucky that even with the lack of rainfall, the crops in our area anyway, have managed to produce.  Area's in Nebraska & other parts of Iowa haven't been so lucky.  Of course the numbers on the crop yeilds have yet to come in.

Back at Happy Trails, we were both ready to go home & shower off the dust!