As far as landscape goes it is great in the Midwest part of the United States because you don't have to go far to see differences. We have big cities, small cities, small towns, and even wide open country. The best part is they are often only a short drive away from each other.
Yesterday was the first day of the year. I decided at lunch time to go get some delivery driving in. I guess I'm already motivated for work even though it's a holiday. I worked for a couple of hours and made a decent hall of funds. What ended up being my last delivery was near this place above. This is not a farm just a place that has tried to bring back some older stuff. We had a wind mill like this on the property I lived on growing up. I like older signs as well, to me some tell a story of the past.
This place was kind of the border marker from city life to country life. Just a few miles away you can see fields and farms from as far as the eye can see. I checked out from delivery driving and decided to drive well into the country to see what I could share with you today. The area I visited was about 5 miles East of Council Bluffs, Iowa.
To get to the country we will start with driving on pavement. Not this time but sometimes the pavement changes over to dirt. Today I will simply turn off onto a dirt road and see where it takes us. Before we see any farms we see many trees and fields. This is a much different landscape than what is presented to us in the city.
Trees are all bear and the fields are all harvested. The trees can pretty much be anywhere. They flood the ditches of many of the roads. Doesn't matter if they are small or large they will grow on top of or on the side of hills big or small.
Glimpses of the past and present can be seen in the fences. A lot of the crop fields use to be fenced in if we go back in time. I am hard believer that the first photo with the bent gate, barb wire and wood posts was probably put up close to 100 years ago. I imagine there were miles of fence line surrounding the area. It's really cool it's still displayed today even though it serves no real purpose other than it's cool to look at. Today fencing is used to keep livestock at bay and to deter people from entering areas where expensive farming equipment and supplies are kept.
What I show you above are some silows. They are used to store grain, feed and other harvested crops. In today's farming operations they are usually made out of tin or aluminium. I was pleasantly surprised to run across two silows made of brick. It's not something you see much today. I find the brick made ones pretty cool to look at.
Farming has been going on for decades in this area. A lot of properties in the country have barns. Not all the properties with barns are involved with farming but they were in some way affiliated with it in the past. In the 1930's(Great Depression) some farms didn't make it and the properties were foreclosed. Some found new residents and some became abandoned. Near my childhood home there is a property that was abandoned. It contained two out buildings, a barn, and a tiny little house.
The barn's primary reason for existence is to hold animals such as cows, horses, pigs, and a few others. Most barns have a hay loft on the upper level. Residents that have them but don't have animals use the barn like a storage shed. I think it's really cool how some are still standing and get used still. Many are over 100 years old and it is sad when you see or hear about one getting teared or burned down.
It's not often you find a barn that is exactly the same as another. Even if you do it's highly likely the interior is set up differently. Many are similar while others are quite different. Today I seen a lot of white and red barns. Blue barns are less common but there are some still around.
Here I show you some old and new sheds that get used for storing various things. It's very common to pull up to a property in the country and see multiple buildings. The sheds get used to house tractors and other equipment.
Here is some random shots I took to just fit in here. The old wagon is cool and it was close to the roadside. Definitely a display of yard art to show what was used in the past. Not unusual to see old wagons, wagon wheels, and even some turn of the century rusty tractors. Didn't see any of those today but I only explored in about a 10 mile radius.
The second picture is piece of Tomcat equipment. Basically a smaller version of a tractor. It can be used for so many things as there are probably 101 different attachments you can get for it.
Third photo is obviously a bull dozer.Farming in generally has a lot to with ground. I'm sure from time to time it comes into play. Maybe for muddy roads leading into fields or leveling live stock grazing area with new soil.
The fourth photo caught me off guard. Not because what it is but why there is more than one. I've never seen two outhouses (outdoor bathroom) right next to each other. Is one for the boys and the other for girls? Is the family huge or is there a lot of farm hands? I don't have the answers but I got a kick out of it.
The last photo is of an operational wind mill. The fan blades were spinning. Today I seen about five of them only two looked operational.
It was a fun drive checking out some new and old farming properties. There were a few properties that had the buildings from the past but aren't used for those original purposes. The property above was the only one with a time period house on it. The others have some older buildings mixed with some modern ones but all the houses were new homes.
I think I did ok searching, finding, and showing you a sliver of the country life for those that are involved with farming. I will return another day but at different place to show you so much more.
This is all I have for you today. Take care, stay safe and enjoy the rest week. Until next time.
