Minnesota in mid-September

These as i was on my way home today from the post office i work at on Saturdays;

Looks a lot like where I live. Are those soybeans on the right side of the road in pic 3?

Little bitty small town Minnesota, which will remain unnamed unless you can figure it out. This is the town where my post office is.......




and the post office!

dblboggie wrote:Looks a lot like where I live. Are those soybeans on the right side of the road in pic 3?

Yep, those be soybeans!

TexasBlue wrote:

dblboggie wrote:Looks a lot like where I live. Are those soybeans on the right side of the road in pic 3?

Yep, those be soybeans!

I'm surrounded by soybeans... seems all the farmers around here are on the same crop rotation... next year I'll probably be surrounded by corn again.

My uncle does beans, corn and wheat. He rotates each field every year. His house is surrounded by beans and next year it'll be corn. Of course, he has tons of other fields and he rotates those, too.

The field by his farm house in back in July of 2004........

Hmmm... that corn seems awfully short for July... is that sweet corn or field corn?

dblboggie wrote: Hmmm... that corn seems awfully short for July... is that sweet corn or field corn?

That was 2004. Minnesota was having a dry summer back then. Those were taken when i came up from Texas for my grandpa's funeral. The corn around here now is over 8 feet tall. We had a normal Minnesota summer..... plenty of normal rainfall. The corn in southern Minnesota is over 10 feet tall in areas.

Field corn. Ethanol corn.

TexasBlue wrote:

dblboggie wrote: Hmmm... that corn seems awfully short for July... is that sweet corn or field corn?

That was 2004. Minnesota was having a dry summer back then. Those were taken when i came up from Texas for my grandpa's funeral. The corn around here now is over 8 feet tall. We had a normal Minnesota summer..... plenty of normal rainfall. The corn in southern Minnesota is over 10 feet tall in areas.

Field corn. Ethanol corn.

Ah... okay... I was still in California in 2004, and I had no clue about sweet corn versus field corn, or anything else related to agriculture. I've only recently become aware of these things, being surrounded by them now. It's funny really, I see commercials about corn seed on TV (something you'd never see in L.A.), and reports on the weather's impact on local farmers. It's like I'm living in an entirely foreign world as I've always lived in cities up to now. Now I know what soybeans, field corn, sweet corn, wheat and winter wheat look like. I've gone from metro America to rural farm America... it has been quite a transformation for me.

dblboggie wrote: Ah... okay... I was still in California in 2004, and I had no clue about sweet corn versus field corn, or anything else related to agriculture. I've only recently become aware of these things, being surrounded by them now. It's funny really, I see commercials about corn seed on TV (something you'd never see in L.A.), and reports on the weather's impact on local farmers. It's like I'm living in an entirely foreign world as I've always lived in cities up to now. Now I know what soybeans, field corn, sweet corn, wheat and winter wheat look like. I've gone from metro America to rural farm America... it has been quite a transformation for me.

It's quite the eye opener even for me. Living in Ft. Worth-Dallas for 25 years (6 million people) compared to this town of 3,000 is quite a change for me.

Btw, i just noticed that i was driving on the wrong side of the road in those photos. Matt and his wife are going to chew me out for that when they see these pix.

TexasBlue wrote:

dblboggie wrote: Ah... okay... I was still in California in 2004, and I had no clue about sweet corn versus field corn, or anything else related to agriculture. I've only recently become aware of these things, being surrounded by them now. It's funny really, I see commercials about corn seed on TV (something you'd never see in L.A.), and reports on the weather's impact on local farmers. It's like I'm living in an entirely foreign world as I've always lived in cities up to now. Now I know what soybeans, field corn, sweet corn, wheat and winter wheat look like. I've gone from metro America to rural farm America... it has been quite a transformation for me.

It's quite the eye opener even for me. Living in Ft. Worth-Dallas for 25 years (6 million people) compared to this town of 3,000 is quite a change for me.

I know just what you mean. Going from a major metropolitan area to a rural community can be quite the culture shock. They truly are two entirely different worlds...

dblboggie wrote:I know just what you mean. Going from a major metropolitan area to a rural community can be quite the culture shock. They truly are two entirely different worlds...

There's more clingers in these small towns even here in liberal Minnesota. They like their God, guns and religion.

Seriously, they are like that here. It reminds me of the tiny Texas towns. When i moved back here, it made me realize that it's not just the southern stereotype. It really is like that in small town America.

TexasBlue wrote:

dblboggie wrote:I know just what you mean. Going from a major metropolitan area to a rural community can be quite the culture shock. They truly are two entirely different worlds...

There's more clingers in these small towns even here in liberal Minnesota. They like their God, guns and religion.

Seriously, they are like that here. It reminds me of the tiny Texas towns. When i moved back here, it made me realize that it's not just the southern stereotype. It really is like that in small town America.

Yep! Small town America is the America I grew up in. Their values are what made America the greatest nation on earth; and I say this as a big city agnostic for more than 35 years, and I say this with no shame or hesitation. I have studied enough history to know on which side my bread is buttered. I admire the "bitter clingers" and their devotion to God and guns. It is a devotion entirely consistent with our founding principles...

What impressed me is how these people around here are very passionate about their guns and hunting. Half of these people are Democrat voters to boot! They're also very family oriented. You don't much of that in big cities... at least not with the same commitment.

Oooh pretty. To me, rural America - which ever bit - always looks so different from the UK...even the bits that a bit look like the UK, New England and such. And the towns are so big and airy. Everything looks so open! And new! Everything looks so new. Even the trees look new!

BecMacFeegle wrote:Oooh pretty. To me, rural America - which ever bit - always looks so different from the UK...even the bits that a bit look like the UK, New England and such. And the towns are so big and airy. Everything looks so open! And new! Everything looks so new. Even the trees look new!

That town there in those pics has only 600 or so people but quite a few millionaires because of all the turkey farms in the surrounding area.

The streets are new from last summer of '09. There's a history book of that town and has pics in there from the late 1800's and thru the 1900's. Many of those buildings are now gone but about 5 of them still stand. The bank was built in the 1910's. lol