The sky was rumbling early this morning and a cool summer rain was falling on our northern Driftless Area’s soil.
It was a moment that carried me back to my youth: The wet grass and coolness from above made me recall soaked clothing and hayseed-covered jeans after driving the cows down the hoof-grooved lane to their morning post-milking pasture. When I returned to the dry shelter of the barn, I was warmed by the music on the old fly-speckled barn radio; my clothes dried by the movement of my helping complete the morning’s chores.
This morning’s rain came off-and-on at our farm, giving me the chance to roam out to glance at some of the corn. This week’s crop progress report said the percentage of the crop coming into silk is quickly increasing, and my rain-shortened visit affirmed that report.
As Bob Bosold and I agreed this morning: There are some days when you walk out into a corn field and you assume the corn is growing; there are other days when it starts maturing so quickly that it seems you turn around in a row and the stalks you just passed are tasseling and silking.
The chores are done and the rain has returned. I believe I’ll sit for a while and look through the windows to watch the day’s corn growth.
— Scott Schultz
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