Changes in the Wind

 

Copyright Rochell Wisoff-Fields

Edith had stared

Out her window

For nearly 50 years.

Edith had watched

Weather changes,

Children playing,

Family picnics.

Today, fields

Were silent.

Her house was silent.

Edith herself was silent.

Last mourners had closed the door.

The parlor was overpowered with

The scent of roses and carnations.

The table held remnants of

Sandwiches and pie.

Edith did what she always did:

She cleaned up.

Now she stood at the kitchen window.

What to do? What to do, now?

Edith carried her suitcases

To the car,

Locked the house.

And left.

To where?

She did not know.

Everyone, at one time or another, looks at the empty house and winding road. Sometimes they close the door and start the car.  Sometimes the doors and cars remain silent, and sometimes the suitcase goes back in. Have you ever been there? I have.

Rolling down the River

 

The meandering Mississippi River worried Jeff, just as it always does. Would it rain too much and river will flood? Would the fields dry when there was no rain? Too much, too little. One way or another, Jeff would worry.  

This winter gave Minnesota enough snow to cover the entire Midwest. The snow melt sent Mississippi rolling and charging down past town after town, filling their fields with muddy water, tearing houses from their foundations.

No longer a gently flowing river as Tom Sawyer saw from Hannibal, Mississippi now rampaged and threatened his field. His neighbors and farmers in his township watched the line of water edge up their fields.

It was hard enough to make a living in the Missouri bottom land.  Flooding water spreading across his cornfields made him think more and more about leaving.   

"Mountains. That’s where I need to go. Take a train ride to the mountains…” Jeff muttered as he continued to fill sandbags and pile them on the levee.

Floods in the Midwest are legendary. The Mississippi River meets up with Illinois River every year.  Towns, crops, fields, schools---The Rivers take care of them all.

This is a repost from 2014. The Rivers flood along rivers and corn fields every spring through the fall..  One spring flooded into our church. Men rowed up the middle aisle to see if the piano was safe. Cinder blocks were placed to raise the piano.

Bold and italicized titles were given in the Wednesday Words by Delores some years ago. She is missed.

corn crop ruined

Ant Colony 308D

Ant Colony Story, first published in January, now re-posted since I am off seeing my two-year old grandson. Haven't seen him for a year and a half.

Recent floods, smoke and fire and the installation of artificial turf had forced Ant Colony 307B to relocate at a far corner of an artichoke field. The ant army acted as a unit to move every member from the arterial twists and turns of the now drenched network of their former home.

Moving the queen ant with her arsenal of ant larvae and drones had proved to be most interesting. Trudging through soggy tunnels had revealed an unknown treasure of collected artwork. Minute paint chips, grains of paprika, and tiny shreds of colored paper lined walls of the queen’s chamber.

The real treasure remained were left behind as the tunnels collapsed. Just how extensive is an ant colony/hill? And, where did the Queen make it out safely?

My son is an entomologist and confirmed that

red ants are vicious.

 Watch this video. This is a repost from 2014. Red ants have started to emerge, with high temperatures and dry air. Source:All the ants will die in this video. Good thing, too.