Followers

Pages

Wednesday, September 29, 2010

A day in the life of a farmer - as observed by a city girl

I love the campground where we are currently staying because it is in the country. Our trailer backs up to a farmer's field. We are ten feet away, at most, from his crop. We can literally watch the corn grow. We were amazed in the spring when we were here to watch the little plants grow almost an inch a day! Now we've returned three months later to 10 feet tall corn stalks!

This is the view out the back window of the trailer.


Within a half hour of taking this photo, I heard an engine running. I thought it was a lawnmower. I glanced out the window and saw this.


Something THAT BIG went by and I thought it was a LAWN MOWER? Remember, I'm a city girl! I walked outside to grab some more pictures. I found this jewel left behind.


Oops! It's supposed to look like this:


Some animal is going to have a feast later! Just then I heard a noise and looked up. Farmer John was working his way back to me.

He's getting closer!


There he goes!


Farmer John decides to cut north/south so he comes directly at me with the combine.


He sees me sitting on the nearby picnic table with the camera to my eye and waves to me.

Then he turns his big machinery around and heads east, starting a new row. I think I would be tempted to cut designs in the cornfield, wouldn't you?


I watch Farmer John head back down the row, cutting and stripping the corn all at once.

Pretty soon the field behind us is almost done. The combine is off in the distance, and I can see their farm.


A turkey vulture is enjoying the warm weather and riding air currents above the field.


Farther down from my trailer, I find evidence on a picnic table that an animal has helped himself to the corn. I bet it won't be here long!



 
A long day in the field. Once more over with the plow, and the field with be tucked in for the winter. A few months later, a new season will begin again. And so it goes. The life of a farmer.

18 comments:

Unknown said...

Great photos. Not exactly a lawn mower!

Sunny said...

That's quite a change in the landscape! What a huge corn field.
I took some pics of a combine yesterday, he was mowing down a cornfield while a trailer truck drove along side of him and he was filling it with all the ground up cornstalks. I've never seen it done that way before.
I LOVE the last picture with the red barn in the distance.
☼ Sunny

AiringMyLaundry said...

Awesome photos.

Corn fields kinda scare me though at night. I think about what might be lurking in them.

Anonymous said...

love it.... alot of that going on around here these days:)

Gail said...

Great photos!

Crop circles by Pat...

Carletta said...

What a great photo essay!
I love the first shot of the sky over the cornfield. Good you got it when you did and how exciting to watch the landscape change.
I love the watercolor painting look of your new header - lovely!

Brian Miller said...

it is obviously aliens come to make crop circles...smiles.

Missy said...

My grandfather used to tell me that he had to use corn cobs as toilet paper when he was a child! LOL Love the photos!

Kathy's Klothesline said...

Makes me feel nostalgic. I remember when harvest didn't involve so much automated equipment. As much as I like the speed involved in getting the job done quickly ........ Great photos!

Kathy's Klothesline said...

Makes me feel nostalgic. I remember when harvest didn't involve so much automated equipment. As much as I like the speed involved in getting the job done quickly ........ Great photos!

yogurt said...

i have to confess i have never seen those kind of "lawn mowers" up close.

Lynda said...

Don't you just love the way Farmer John checked the campsite schedule so he could entertain us all through your blog?!!!! That was wonderful of him. I am thankful you were camera ready as it was a beautiful day to capture this story on film. It was a beautiful view in the beginning and even prettier at the end.

Sallie (FullTime-Life) said...

Cool photo essay and what a great location for y'all to be staying. I love having different backyards -- one of the joys of RVing.

Ed said...

You could have been across the street from my house.

JayLeigh said...

That is so neat! I really enjoyed reading about that and seeing the pictures.

Anonymous said...

That sure is some lawn mower! =)

I think corn fields are kinda creepy... Too many scary movies I guess!

Valerie said...

And so life goes on...
Hubs would have no excuse about cutting the grass if we had a mower like that.

SquirrelQueen said...

That's a great series of photos Pat, I really like the first on of the corn and sky. We see a lot of farm equipment like that in this area, that would be considered a small combine here.

Our backyard is on the edge of a huge wheat field and come harvest time it looks a lot like your photos.

I love your new page background.