To be alive in August!

[Jay Honeck]

Unless you live in a drought-stricken region, right now your garden is as lush and over-grown as it will ever be. The multi-hued green plants are lush and full, filling the air with a fragrance that is wonderful to behold...

Now, imagine an entire *state* like that. If you can picture it, you've now described all of Iowa, from border to border, and the view from the air is simply indescribable.

Mary and I flew my daughter and a friend to the Iowa State Fair in Des Moines yesterday. This easy 58-minute flight, normally so pedestrian, has been transformed into one of the most beautiful flights in America, with emerald-green fields stretching from horizon-to-horizon, split only by highways and roads. Giant stretches of corn, soybeans, alfalfa, and wheat have blanketed this most-cultivated state in the union, and everywhere you look is a velvety bed of the most intense greens you can imagine.

As I sit on my deck typing this, the weather is a perfect 77 degrees, with low humidity. The cicadas are singing so loudly that it's hard to be heard, and the only other sound in our neighborhood is the soft hum of air conditioners. It's hard to imagine that just four short months ago, Iowa was a lifeless block of snow and brown, frozen dirt.

Summertime in the Midwest is a wondrous time. For those of us who are privileged to fly, it's the most beautiful time of all...

 

[gprellwitz]

Jay, that is one of the most poetic postings I've read. Thanks!


I went up today for the first time in a couple of months, and visited a few grass strips for the ConUS Challenge. The fields were green, the Ag planes were yellow, and the clouds were white! It was a GOOD day to fly!

 

[stingray]

It's WI not Iowa I've put more gas in my lawnmower than my plane this year. I wonder what my TBO is?

Dan

 

[Greg Bockelman]

There is a lot of ground between Dubuque and O'Hare that never got planted. It never stopped raining enough to dry out. Most water I have seen for so long in a long time.

 

[john smith]

Ohio, on the other hand, turned brown during the last two weeks. While I was at AirVenture, my wife informed me the temperatures in Central Ohio were in the low- and mid-90's with high humidity. I last mowed my lawn three weeks ago.

 

[Jay Honeck]

Ohio, on the other hand, turned brown during the last two weeks. While I was at AirVenture, my wife informed me the temperatures in Central Ohio were in the low- and mid-90's with high humidity. I last mowed my lawn three weeks ago.

Ours has finally slowed down to a more-normal "once-a-week" mowing, but it's still green and lush. We haven't turned the irrigation system on at the hotel yet this year -- a new first for us -- and our painter has been chomping at the bit, waiting for a solid week of no rain to get started on the hotel exterior.

He finally said "To heck with it" and started painting today. I guarantee you that I'll be paying him to re-do it in three years, cuz the wood isn't really dry enough to paint -- but we can't wait any longer.

There's a good reason why Iowa is called the "bread basket of the world"...

 

[CJones]

I'm looking forward to my flight from AMW (central Iowa) to San Antonio tomorrow. It will be a good view of some of the varying landscapes of the US. From the lush & green Iowa to hot and dry southern TX. Should be interesting.

 

[Jay Honeck]

I'm looking forward to my flight from AMW (central Iowa) to San Antonio tomorrow. It will be a good view of some of the varying landscapes of the US. From the lush & green Iowa to hot and dry southern TX. Should be interesting.

I've made similar flights many times. After a few days in the desert Southwest, my eyes start to crave the color green again.

Mountains are pretty, but give me the lush, green Midwest to fly over, any day!

 

[CJones]

I'm looking forward to my flight from AMW (central Iowa) to San Antonio tomorrow. It will be a good view of some of the varying landscapes of the US. From the lush & green Iowa to hot and dry southern TX. Should be interesting.

Well, we didn't get to see much 'tranasition' on the trip down. Hit solid IMC just east of Kansas City (man, that was HUGE area of mod/heavy precip!) and didn't see the ground again until descending south of Tulsa. This are still fairly green around Henrietta, OK (F10) where we stopped for fuel, but Noel - the AWESOME line guy that pumped fuel for us there - said they were hoping for the first rain in a LONG time.

Here in southern Texas, they are shelling corn like the dickens. Cotton is starting to open in the bottoms and they'll be defoliating within the next few weeks to start picking. Not a whole lot of green other than irrigated areas. Got a full afternoon/evening of moving heavy stuff in 100*F heat (but it's a dry heat ) for my sister and a return flight back to IA tomorrow.

 

[woodstock]

That sounds just dreamy. Around here August is usually miserable, although we've had a really good summer this year - enough rain, and, August so far has been pretty nice.

 

[tonycondon]

yea the extremes in the seasons is one reason to like Iowa, or to hate it.

 

[Maxmosbey]

yea the extremes in the seasons is one reason to like Iowa, or to hate it.

I love Iowa in the spring, fall, and summer, but I'll take Mexico over Iowa in the winter. If I could just get my wife to retire too, that is where I would head in December, and I wouldn't come back until my yard was starting to turn green again.