Does it Work?

One of the residents of Riley County is this scarecrow. He’s guarding a patch of sweet corn in a garden along the road.

I suppose that he might keep the crows away, but I think there might be some other critters interested in the sweet corn.

Note that this is all taking place right beside the old corn bin.

- Dan

Corn

The corn in Riley County is looking pretty fine this summer. The ears are not full yet, but that won’t take long.

Pay close attention to all the corn as you drive through the country. My perception is that there is more corn grown around here now than there was 10 years ago.

For those that are really into corn, head on over to Rossville in August for the Tall Corn Festival.

- Dan

Independence Day

This is not a picture that was taken in Riley County, but I wanted to put it up anyway. It seemed appropriate that this be used as Independence Day approaches.

I shot this one in Washington D.C. a few years back. This was taken from the west side of the capitol building.

This is a good time to remember the past, and look forward to the future. Every American should understand what is in the U.S. Constitution, and the intent of the framers. There are many good online resources to help with this – constitution.org and usconstitution.net are good starting places.

While you are visiting usconstitution.net, take the time to hit hit the links about the Declaration of Independence. I am constantly amazed at the willingness the signers had to commit themselves to this. We are the beneficiaries of their resolve.

If only we were to live our lives with a similar commitment to the things we believe.

Happy July 4, everyone!

- Dan

Invasion!

I’ve had this picture of a rabbit for a while now. Seems like with the recent wet weather there have been more of them in my yard than ever before.

Or, possibly we have more due to the lack of a cat around our house.

Either way, I’m glad that we don’t have a garden full of leafy greens that they like to eat!

- Dan

A Gully-Washer

Here in Riley County, you can always count on the unpredictable. According to the weather dude on TV, there was a slight chance of rain yesterday. In actuality, at about 12:30pm, the rains started coming down in bucket-loads. It kept raining, and over the next three hours, we received right around 4.75″ of rain. I heard someone call this rain a frog strangler.

That’s a lot of water in a short period of time. As the Sunday School song says, “the rains came down and the floods came up.” I thought there might be a need to start building an ark.

My wife shot this picture looking out our front door. The water is running over the driveway. If you look closely, you can see the vortex of the water also going down and into the 24″ tube that runs under the driveway.

In other parts of the county, Wildcat Creek was out of it’s bank. It was up to levels that I hadn’t seen since 1993.

On a positive note, we have had enough moisture this spring to keep the hills green.

Continuing to enjoy Riley County…

- Dan

‘Tis The Season

It is only natural that I would put a picture up that reflects the recent wedding of our oldest son and his new bride!

Congratulations to Jordan and Becca!

- Dan

But, It’s June!

There are a couple of interesting things to observe in this picture.

First, there is snow on the ground. The picture was taken this past February while on the way to Omaha for a basketball game. As the summer starts to heat up, you need to remember that relief will come.

Second, in the background is a tower that had been used for microwave communications. At one time it was a vital part of our communications infrastructure, but hasn’t been live for several years.

You get extra points if you can tell me where this picture was taken.

- Dan

Watching You…

A couple of weeks ago I noticed a hoot barred owl sitting on a sign along side the road leading out to our house. He was there one evening and then again the next morning. Then, he was gone.

Yesterday, as I drove to work in a light rain, there he was again. He was closely watching the ground – probably looking for some critter to eat. When I stopped my truck on the road to watch him, he looked directly at me and I got this picture.

Pretty cool, eh?

- Dan

A Bright Spot

Leaves are gone off the trees. The grass is brown. The sky is cloudy. People get depressed. The temperatures lately have been hitting near-record lows. Most people are just trying to get through winter and are looking forward to spring.

But, keep your eyes open. There are always bright spots, like the Cardinal that is pictured above.

Let’s not get so focused on surviving winter that we forget to look for the Bright Spots that are all around us.

- Dan

At The Mall

Riley County High School performed at Manhattan Town Center prior to Christmas. Following the mall, they went to Meadowlark Hills and performed for the folks there.

Let’s always remember why we celebrate Christmas,
- Dan