Another hot and humid summer day caused a lot of things to sweat in the sun like me, but also the corn. Corn doesn’t actually sweat and the technical term is evapotranspiration, the natural process of water evaporating from plants to the air. The corn stalks act like wicks or straws drawing up soil moisture which beads up on leaves and is carried off by warmer air increasing the humidity.
Corn Sweating
Today is Labor Day which “constitutes a yearly national tribute to the contributions workers have made to the strength, prosperity, and well-being of our country”. And while the majority of workers have the day off, others still have to labor today, especially those providing service to those enjoying the last big summer getaways.
And growing up on a farm, Labor Day meant labor as it was the big push to get projects completed before school started. And some of those tasks including making fence before the ground froze.
Fencing Time
The very long L shape barn has some interesting features and the dual silos by the door caught my eye. After the barn wasn’t used for farming anymore, it was family style restaurant having an all you can eat breakfast, and then used as shops with the last sign on the end of the barn advertising antiques. A third wing was added at some point to form a T shape barn but now the barn seems to be abandoned once again.
Dual Sentinels
Although some harvesting of hay was happening last week, it is doubtful any hay will be going through the upper hay loft door on this barn since only a small percentage of hay is put up as loose hay anymore and this old barn styles don’t work for the big round bales of hay.
Retired Barn Loft Door
With the number of times I got wet today, I feel a bit old and rusty like some of these old pieces of equipment.
Wall of Retired Equipment
Traveling only a few feet, you can see large tractors working the fields for spring planting and on next farm the Amish are planting as my grandfather did before getting his first tractor.
Planting with “Horsepower”
The rolling hills of Wisconsin currently are not showing patches of various shades green from crops and pasture land since covered with a layer of snow instead.
Rolling Patches of Green
Although a cooler morning than yesterday, the snow overnight missed this area and a hazy sun is out on this Sunday morning. (Last year on January 25th when this picture was taken, the sun was out brighter but the wind was blowing strong and causing drifts to form on the road.)
The Marsh Lake Cemetery surrounds the Bethany Church but the lack of footprints leading to the door suggests that the church is no longer used on a regular basis, especially in the winter time.
Church Forgotten in the Winter
I love old wooden barns but I am a bit prejudice in that I prefer to see white barn in the summer time when the green grass complements the white barn, especially if the barn is trimmed in green. Red barns look good against the white snow or green grass, although it is warmer for the fingers to take pictures in the summertime!
Summertime White Barn
With the temperature just above freezing yesterday, it felt warm but it will be many months before the corn is knee high by the 4th of July, especially since it is snowing this morning.
Summertime Cornfield
