Harvest Time

One of the hallmarks of living in the upper(ish) Midwest is that one gets to see the seasons change in earnest. In farm country that change is punctuated by the onset of harvest time.

The agriculture has a significant effect on the appearance of the landscape. I've talked here about our enjoyment in having a living fence of corn around the property; throughout the spring and summer the crops grow and change, first emerging, getting taller, and finally changing color from the dark greens of their midlife to the golden hues of fall. Here, at least, the crops begin that change ahead of the trees. It's a dynamic, ever-changing scene.

With harvest it changes again. The harvest itself is a flurry of human activity on land that has been peacefully solitary for months. Trucks, tractors, and combines appear - some of the latter nowadays with components wider than the roads which they travel between fields. They are there for a brief time, then they - and the crops - are gone.

And so the landscape is different again, now open, revealing vistas that had been hidden for months.