As another farm year winds down and I finally find myself driving for hours on end in the field, my body can rest but the brain still works. I have multiple thoughts in my head. Well, here goes with many random musings.
I remember about 8-10 years ago (exact date is irrelevant) when I delivered corn to Prairie Creek Grain and travelled Illinois 53, which was under construction. Traffic was reduced to one-lane as the concrete was poured. I could easily see the concrete looked to be 10”-12” thick. Only a couple of years later, the right lane started to crumble. How? I know enough about construction to know that concrete that thick should hold up, even to the big trucks. As that lane continued to crumble, every vehicle avoided that right lane for years. Despite the left lane receiving most of the traffic for years, it is still in much better shape than the right. I wish I knew what went wrong with the right lane but not the left.
In that same area is the Abraham Lincoln National Cemetery. Imagine my shock this summer when I was there and saw they had heaped mulch around some of the trees. It had only been days since I read Nancy Kuhajda’s article about how you never “volcano” mulch a tree. Does the cemetery not read this paper?
I recently read a headline stating that the local warehouses were at 95% capacity. When I travel Gougar Road, I-355, I-80, Illinois 53, well anywhere, and see all the massive warehouses I wonder: What is in all of them? How much is in them? Who buys all that stuff? Does anyone really need that stuff? Will all that stuff be any good to protect you from the next virus mutation? How many people have rooms, garages, barns, and totes full of stuff they will never use again. Wait, never mind, there is even a lucrative business where people can buy extra storage space outside of their house to keep more stuff. George Carlin explains it well, with humor.
Why did the Illinois legislature consider making it illegal to release helium balloons? They even specified an excess number of 50? If 50 balloons polluting the environment is really bad, wouldn’t even 1 or 2 be bad? Why would anyone release a balloon and pollute? I ask this after harvesting my first 50 acres of soybeans and seeing 4 mylar balloons in the field. Are there any laws forbidding farmers from driving into town and releasing their trash into the yards and parks?
Want some hypocrisy? The local area has many signs criticizing trucks. Social media is full of complaints about trucks. It seems no one wants the trucks, yet everyone keeps buying all the stuff that comes in the trucks. Should we cancel Christmas? Do we really need that swimming pool, exercise bike or pre-lit tree? Can our children survive without bikes, toys and that giant trampoline? If we ban Christmas and curtail purchasing will it make the warehouses and trucks go away?
Except for the beer truck, let’s not get crazy. And the bread truck stays too, of course. Let’s keep the reefer that has the steaks and burgers and chicken wings, too. Oh boy, let’s not forget the grain truck, how would I sell my crops? Maybe we better keep the one that brings the appliances and the one that delivers the mail. Without the mail you wouldn’t get to read my random and confusing thoughts.
On second thought, keep buying all the stuff. Especially the Halloween stuff so I can deliver it to the stores, with my truck of course. If you do not buy my Halloween stuff I may have sell my farm for the big money to a warehouse developer. I have a feeling I am not going to get rich writing.
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