It's Autumn in Iowa

                                                                 "It's Autumn in Iowa"

Sounds like the title to a musical doesn't it?   We should have dancing, singing and catchy show tunes but unfortunately we don't...we have horticulture.   Just a few pictures and some random thoughts from the last few weeks.   It's hard to believe that we have been on our mission for two months already but thankfully we are beginning to find our way around Iowa City and some of the major freeways without using Google Maps every time we get in the car.

The humidity is gone and the leaves are changing.   What everyone says about the autumn colors in the Midwest is certainly true.   The yellows seem yellower, the oranges orangier (?) and the reds are deeper and redder.   I have been taking pictures but they just don't really do the colors justice.   It is amazing.   If it's not on your bucket list already,  make sure you add "See the fall colors in the Midwest" to it before you die.

 I have taken lots of pictures while we have been out driving and none of them have really come out well, but hopefully you can catch the vision of what it's like to travel the roads here this time of year.  Once the leaves are off the trees, driving the long, flat, straight roads will be boring, but right now it is pretty spectacular.

This is a street not too far from the Mission Office that we came across.  We had to stop and take a couple pictures.   Very pretty now, but probably a lot of work for the grounds keeper at this mobile home park.

These two pictures are of the trees around the parking lot outside the Mission Office.   Our Mission Office is located inside one of the two church buildings in Iowa City.   This is the older of the two buildings and we share a wing with the Relief Society Room and the Primary Chapel.

It is truly amazing how many shades of red there are in the leaves here.   This season is way too short.

Now we switch from leaves to grass.......

  

On our way to church, shortly after we arrived here, we happened upon this beautiful field of really tall grass.  This grass is grown in big fields in several places around Iowa City, especially around the University of Iowa.  It is called miscanthus.  It is a bamboo type grass that grows up to 12 ft tall and after it is cut and harvested, is combined with coal to provide energy for the University.   It is a giant (300 plus acre) experiment to find sustainable, renewable energy and reduce the use of fossil fuels.   (The things you learn when you live close to a university!!!)   It is absolutely stunning in the sunshine, and not a bad place to find bluebirds and blackbirds, either.   If you love watching rippling grass or wheat in the wind, and have a LOT of room, miscanthus is the grass for you. 

We have enjoyed watching it ripen and blow in the wind for several weeks now.  Then last Sunday as we came out of church there were black clouds of  birds flying over in waves across the sky.  It was somewhat reminiscent of the Alfred Hitchcock movie.   The clouds were circling in the sky and as we watched, we realized they were diving down into the miscanthus.   We drove closer and realized that the entire field was covered in blackbirds gorging themselves on the ripening seedheads.   The noise was incredible as it was just a non-stop din of squawking, roaring blackbirds.   What an amazing site!!

                                                           

And now.......on to corn!

Autumn in the Midwest is also corn harvest season.   This picture (above) is one I snapped out the window at 70 mph.   I hope it gives you the idea of just how large the cornfields are here.   They go to the horizon and beyond, then stretch for hundreds of miles in all directions.    Perfect crop for a flat country like this.   

The first picture was taken about 6 weeks ago, while this picture was taken only about 2 weeks ago and as you can see... the corn has gotten much older and drier.   It is left to dry out in the field and becomes very hard and tough.   After the plant has completely dried out, it is then harvested using a combine harvester which strips the corn cobs from the stalks, husks the corn and peels the dried kernels off the cob and neatly deposits them into the back of this truck.   John Deere was so smart.

If you look closely you can see all the ears of corn hanging downwards about halfway down each corn stalk.   Wasn't that considerate of them to grow that way so they would conveniently be the same height and fit neatly into the harvester?

These giant rolls left in the fields are not hay, as most of us western farm-type people would assume.   They are called corn stovers.  They are the leftover stalks, husks, etc that are baled into these giant rolls and fed to cattle through the early part of the winter.  

We were informed shortly after arriving that it is tradition that all missionaries who come to Iowa have their picture taken standing "in the corn".   So here is our best effort at being traditional semi-Iowans, trying to get ready for the harvest.    Love you all!