Once again we have reached the part of summer where we are surrounded by a wall of corn. The fields in every direction are seven feet tall, obscuring most all the surrounding views of farmsteads and acreages, highways, poles and power lines. There is a small stretch of the road in front of our house visible to us, and the sky above, while the rest of our world is full of vertical green stalks. We have commented before that we have a growing privacy fence during the summer that eventually gives way to a harvest, which opens our vista again for miles in every direction during the fall, winter and early spring.

Our garden is currently as thus: tomato plants so-so, no pepper plants left, melon and cucumber plants taking over everything else. There are dozens of blooms on the vining monsters, and we are already struggling to eat and give away what we are harvesting from them. Admittedly, food abundance is a good problem to have. But this year it looks like it will mainly be cukes and melons.

I was sitting in the living room when I heard a huge THUMP against the dinning room window. Usually when a bird hits our house windows it is stunned for a minute, then gets up, shakes it off and flies away. I got up but did not see anything on the yard in front of the windows. The next day I was out weeding and came to the front of those same windows. There lay a most beautiful bird, tiny yellow feathers streaming from its tail, a hint of red on its cap. I didn’t know what species it was, but from the angle of its head, turned to the back, it was obvious this was the bird that hit our window the day before. I picked up the poor thing by its foot and examined it. So many colors, and it seemed to me like it could, if I really willed it, fly from my hand, alive and free again. I carried it it over to the hollyhocks starting to wither against the machine shed, and dropped it among the large, fading flowers.

Since we have lived out here on our acreage we have heard pheasants, usually living in the ditches along the road. This year they have been coming closer, squawking around our yard. I have yet to see one on our property, but by the sound they are very close. You never know what might strut, flit, crawl, slither, hop or scamper across your place out here.

The guy we hired to cut down our dead ash trees backed out, so while we look for someone else to do the job some woodpeckers are making good use of them.

I spoke with a DNR forest biologist about our white willow trees (the crowns are dying) and his conclusion was they will either get better, or they won’t. (!) He explained they might be coming to the end of their natural lifespans, could be suffering from disease or insect infestation, but probably were not dying of drought. He said we could hire an arborist to check them out, but most likely there is nothing to be done. So we will wait and see. I might consult an arborist, or just let nature take its course.

Our mulberry trees produced a fine crop this spring that we were able to enjoy until the robins discovered the berries and stripped the trees of the rest. The garden is coming along okay so far this year, but as usual there is always something struggling. This year it is the tomato plants and the green pepper plant. A volunteer tomato plant grew up right next to the pepper plant, and I think I will let them battle it out.

The dust control company finally came and sprayed the gravel road in front of our house. When the road is not treated with spray the wind will blow an incredible amount of dust across our acreage, making our place look like a civil war battlefield whenever a vehicle drives by. When treated it is much more enjoyable to work outside, and if the nights are cool we can open up the house.

Broken record alert: rabbits are again all over the place. As are the robins.

We have had two white willow trees fall over so far this spring, and the crowns of over half of them are dying. We don’t know if it is disease, insects or drought, but it is a major concern as we have over 50 of them on the acreage. I have already spoken with our local extension office about it, and they recommended talking with the DNR, which is my next move.

The garden is planted and herbs and flowers (mostly) potted. This spring there have been just a few butterflies, bees and wasps flying about, however there are thousands of biting flies, and tiny flea type bugs that insist on exploring your ears, eyes, nose and hair. Sometimes I can put up with those but the flies will send me inside everytime they attack, as many times they will draw blood with their bites.

As with other parts of the country we have been occasionally experiencing the drifting smoke from the fires out west. The only good thing about that are the spectacular orange sunsets the smoke helps create.