Bugs, A Heron and A Month Of Rain

The process of evapotranspiration can cause an average acre of corn to transpire up to 4,000 gallons of water a day. There are around 23 million acres of cropland in Iowa. It was VERY humid here during July.

This season saw lots of milkweed and flowers on our acreage, but few butterflies. There seemed to be plenty of crickets, and it was so humid during early August that sometimes at night water would drip from the roof of the machine shed, in harmony with their chirping. There were plenty of moths again this year, flitting around the yard lights at night during July and August, casting oversized shadows on the grass below. During mid to late August the fireflies disappeared, to be replaced by the grasshoppers again. This replacement almost always happens the same time each year, as does the disappearance of most all of the birds on our acreage. Some of the birds reappeared during late September. During mid-September the moths started to die inside our machine shed under the florescent light that hangs over the workbench. They are unable to fly anymore, walk in circles (counterclockwise) lay on their backs for awhile, then try to walk again. The next day that small group are usually all dead, while a new batch begins to walk in circles among them. And so autumn comes creeping in before the trees start to turn.

The toads were sneaking into our garage and staying overnight sometimes. We wondered if they were going for our pets large water bowl when it was dry outside. We were visited by a heron at the end of our lane standing in a water puddle for a few minutes during a mid summer rain. Dice and Sammy (our dog and cat) are still best buds.

The corn and soybeans started turning at end of August, and now look ready for harvest, once the fields dry out. This was one of the wettest Septembers in the Iowa record books. The garden was so-so again, with some things thriving and others struggling. I am thinking of tilling a new patch next year, so the old garden can rest awhile.