Back in March, as we were on our way to Rockford, Illinois, the cornfields were brown and bare. To me, it looked like a vast deserted land.
Empty.
Dormant.
But as the weeks rolled by we began to see the farmers working the soil- Illinois became alive. Rows upon rows of corn were planted; miles and miles of corn. The rich fertile rows gave way to tiny seedlings which, to me, looked like tiny green pin stripes decorating the earth. Week by week the corn grew, eventually a friend told us that the corn was not for human consumption and that nearly all of the corn grown in Illinois was for animals, fuel and other domestic products. That little tidbit of information proved to be quite interesting and educational for this group of Texans! Now we wonder where all the sweet corn comes from!
As summer pressed on we witnessed how the drought had killed a number of crops, especially in parts of Arkansas and Missouri. Once we got to Wisconsin, it seemed the corn was thriving better though the natives said that even they had had a bad year with very little rain. Nevertheless, eventually we were able to see the corn harvested, at a dead-looking stage I might add, which was again very interesting and quite educational. For a long time, we were worried that we might need to inform the poor souls that they were letting the corn die on the stalk!! Little did we know~ Texans, we're not into corn, really~ that it's actually harvested after it dries in the field!
Of course.....makes perfect sense!
And now, as we've made the trek home, the corn is being harvested; some fields full of dried corn waiting for its turn in the combine while others, having already been stripped, now lie dormant until Spring when, once again, the whole process starts over.
We've come full circle.
