The Power of Electricity

The road from Sioux Falls to Vermillion can be a long one. The scenery never changes except there might or might not be cows in the fields and you can measure how tall the corn grows. It is a long road indeed. There is a grain elevator on the south bound side of the highway. For those of you who are unfamiliar with what a grain elevator is, think of it as a distribution point for grains from the area farms. Instead of having to bring their grain to kingdom come around the country, they sell it to an elevator which is strategically placed in towns. The elevator then distributes the grain to the rest of the country. This is one case, I believe, that having a middle man can be a good thing.

In front of the grain elevator are huge loads of grain that cannot fit into the elevator’s storage bins. They looked as if they were on rail cars and covered in thick, white plastic. From the angle at I was passing, they looked remarkably like a covered wagon train resting up before the next leg of the journey west. (I should insert here that W says it goes against physics to have corn packed in such a way as to look like a covered wagon. I’m still sticking to the image).

This past week we were in an awful heat wave. The temperatures reached into the upper nineties with heat indexes in the 100’s. In other words, it was hot. It’s at times like these that I think about how the pioneers did it. How did they face, and win, against the elements? The same pioneers who traveled thousands of miles in covered wagons to build better lives for themselves and their children. First, a little history to set the stage.

South Dakota was first part of the Dakota Territory which was established in 1861. This territory also included North Dakota as well. In 1889, South Dakota and North Dakota became states. South Dakota did not have electricity until 1909, 30 years after the lightbulb was invented. To put it in perspective, that was 133 years after the Declaration of Independence. The first electric cooperative was not established until 1935. Electricity, it seems, would be a long time coming in South Dakota.

This brings me back to the pioneers and the covered wagons. How would they have handled the heat? Find a nearest creek I would imagine. Stay inside. All the things we do now when it gets too hot. So maybe the next time it gets hot, think of how things would be without electricity. Without air conditioners. Without running water. And forget about ice cubes.

Perhaps turning the AC up a few degrees to save energy and save your electric bill is not so hard after all.

Garden Report: The garden is loving this hot, humid weather. Especially the tomatoes. The cucumbers and other cold loving veggies not so much. My volunteer tomatillos and tomatoes are going crazy. I've made pesto with most of my basal and soon I'll have to make a second batch. 

Flight of the Concorde

This week I saw my first crop duster flying over the green fields as I was traveling home to Vermillion from W’s place. I have to admit, I was kind of excited. In my 5 years of living in the Midwest, I had never seen one. To the locals here I imagine it’s a common occurrence. Farmer John down the road possibly even flew one as a boy. But to me, I was in awe. At first, I thought it was a glider using the wind currents to master flight. However, as it neared the end of the field, the plane slowly banked upward making a wide loop with the wings at a beautiful angle. It settled down close to the field once again, flying toward the highway. It had a certain beauty about the way it moved and danced in the wind.

I was instantly transported back to the 1950’s era, where men where men and women stayed in the kitchen. I saw the plane as if it was in an old black and white movie, yellowed with time. I pictured the innocence of the time, the quintessential 1950’s life of sheets on the line, Moms at home taking care of the house, Fathers going to and from work. It was the view from the advertisement photos produced by companies to show their product would make a perfect life.

As we know, those advertisements had thick, rose colored glasses on. The families of the 1950’s had the same problems we have today. They had to worry about food on the table, cars breaking down, home repair. Out in the Midwest, it was worrying about the fields and grain prices. It was trying to predict whether it would rain enough or too much. 

In truth, not much has changed in the last 60 years.

It is the fourth of July this week. It is the birth of our country and of a set of ideals, a place of freedom. The country has come a long way since 1776. We face new challenges and new opportunities that we must conquer and embrace. This July 4^th, remember. Remember who we are as a country, where we came from, and what more we can do to make this a better country and a better world.

Garden report: Everything is growing great. The peas, beans and cucumbers are already producing fruit. The tomato plants are flowering. The peppers are very slow. I have a ton of tomatillo volunteer plants coming up as well. Half the garden needs to get weeded, and soon! I have a baby bunny that has been chewing on things. He’s adorable yet very annoying. I’ll need to find a nice way to deter him.