Its Been Some Time

I keep thinking of things to write but then I get home and go into intake mode again. Happens during harvest time I guess. The days start to shorten and the leaves start to change. I know old man winter and a time of low productivity is not that far away, even while I'm still working in shorts, tank top and sandals and just wanting to enjoy the mild weather. I know, I know, sandals are hardly the appropriate attire for driving tractor and other farm work but why get socks that dirty and full of foxtail? Plus, walking around in granaries or grain truck beds full of grain is much easier barefoot, I think. And barefoot is more quickly achieved when wearing sandals than socks and shoes, and far more comfortable when it is hot and hasn't rained in over a month. Anyway, I digress...

Suffice it to say, as we all know, 'tis the busy season for we farming types, or we "making some effort to live as a farming type after a lot of years away from it" types. I'm still not working from sun up to sun down as real farming types do, but I'm making an effort and that means I don't get home til after 10 pm most days. All this whining is basically preamble to my apology for being so quiet for awhile. I have actually taken quite a few pictures that I have been meaning to share here, along with accumulating the aforementioned writing thoughts. Perhaps I will get to them in a series of closing out the "summer" season posts.

Having said that, I saw something at around 8:30 last night that I sooo wished I could snap a picture of but my camera was too far away. I have come to love to take pictures and as many others likely know, it is agonizing to look at a scene just begging to be photographed...and to not have a camera accessible. Anyway, I thought I'd share the image anyway, or try to.

The sun was moving towards setting in a cloudless but dusty/hazy sky over a single line of trees. The beginning-to-darken blue of the sky was a cobalt color, at least through my sunglasses (the actual sunset turned out to be stunning too, a short time later). There had been two hot air balloons in the sky off a few miles a short time earlier but one of them had since landed. The second was a small shape, only just recognizable as a hot air balloon, which seemed from my perspective to be heading directly at the waning sun. I could not help but grin as I thought it looked like some wingless Icarus actually trying to see how close it could get, perhaps attempting to ride it over the horizon.

I was really tempted to make the 10 minute drive to the truck and back but I knew I wouldn't get back in time and the field really needed to get done.

Here is one where I did luck out, I think:

I think you can click on the picture to view the larger version. Without wanting to toot my own horn, so to speak, I feel this might be the best picture I have taken so far. Nature just kind of lined up perfectly right as I happened to be watching with my camera.

Talk to you again soon.

Peace and comfort to all.