Wednesday, June 5, 2013, At the farm, Story City, IA

My aunt Phyllis took us to lunch (at the Royal Diner in Story City, IA?) Since it was Wednesday, it was Kumla day. We each had a bowl of Kumla. My best description would be sticky potato dumplings in ham soup. It was pretty tasty even if my description doesn't sound like it would be.

Later, Donald and Barbara arrived. It's Barbara's first time on the farm, so she got the full tour of all the new equipment.  

She fit pretty well inside the wheel!

The big surprise for me was the new crop they are growing in Iowa - giant windmills! I guess they are really called wind turbines and they seemed to be everywhere. They also seemed to be running all the time. I forgot how windy it is here. You can see the fields are not green. The rain and muddy fields this year have prevented a lot of people from planting. The ones who did, have a lot of places where the seed drowned and will either need to be replanted or just abandoned this year. Not good for farming - let's hope it dries up soon.

OK, if there was ever a scene begging for HDR treatment this was it and I think it worked quite well. With normal exposure, I would have either lost the detail inside or the detail in the sky. Of course, you may be asking why I would take this picture at all - I'm afraid I can't explain that.

She's almost ready to let go!

I love visiting the farm. It's easy to see the appeal of Iowa - there is beauty everywhere you look!