Today Gary and I walked through the fields of this Illinois farm. Gary lived in Dixon growing up but spent a lot of time here during the summers with his Uncle George and Aunt Shirley, brother and sister. Now he is here on his own though he will be returning to Seymour on April 10.
We were barely out of the farmyard when I spotted a blur of blue and orange. Sure enough it was a bluebird, followed by another and another and soon we had a flock of the little darlings. Killdeer were calling from the ditches and the robins were everywhere. Spring is erupting in northern Illinois.
The temperature was 60 degrees, the day was sunny, perfect for exploration.
Up the road we found a neighbor shoveling horse manure into his vegetable garden. I told him about a parade I'd seen in Scotland. In an American parade the equestrian units are usually followed by a volunteer with a shovel and a rolling bin to collect the warm leavings. In Scotland, no manure collector is needed. The moment a horse drops an apple a little old lady rushes out to harvest it for her roses. The fellow thought that as pretty funny.
The Harms farm is one of the prettiest in the state. Most of Illinois is flat, but this farm has a creek and rolling terrain and plenty of trees. We climbed up a slope with a marvelous view of the surrounding country then worked our way down to a cow lane. This path has been here for over a century so is worn down. There was mud because of the run off from the slopes but we didn't mind. We crawled through barb wire fences and climbed over gates. I certainly didn't feel 69 when I accomplished that.
A herd of at least six deer flew over the barbed wire fence. We scared up a covey of quail.
We returned to sit on lawn chairs on the front porch and drink lemonade as we waited to wave at cars going by but none went by. Plock Road is quiet except for people driving by on their way to work in the morning and again on their way home. The rest of the day we have the place to ourselves.
Except for the two cats who really run the place.
We were barely out of the farmyard when I spotted a blur of blue and orange. Sure enough it was a bluebird, followed by another and another and soon we had a flock of the little darlings. Killdeer were calling from the ditches and the robins were everywhere. Spring is erupting in northern Illinois.
The temperature was 60 degrees, the day was sunny, perfect for exploration.
Up the road we found a neighbor shoveling horse manure into his vegetable garden. I told him about a parade I'd seen in Scotland. In an American parade the equestrian units are usually followed by a volunteer with a shovel and a rolling bin to collect the warm leavings. In Scotland, no manure collector is needed. The moment a horse drops an apple a little old lady rushes out to harvest it for her roses. The fellow thought that as pretty funny.
The Harms farm is one of the prettiest in the state. Most of Illinois is flat, but this farm has a creek and rolling terrain and plenty of trees. We climbed up a slope with a marvelous view of the surrounding country then worked our way down to a cow lane. This path has been here for over a century so is worn down. There was mud because of the run off from the slopes but we didn't mind. We crawled through barb wire fences and climbed over gates. I certainly didn't feel 69 when I accomplished that.
A herd of at least six deer flew over the barbed wire fence. We scared up a covey of quail.
We returned to sit on lawn chairs on the front porch and drink lemonade as we waited to wave at cars going by but none went by. Plock Road is quiet except for people driving by on their way to work in the morning and again on their way home. The rest of the day we have the place to ourselves.
Except for the two cats who really run the place.
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