It's all about the corn in Iowa...

Well, there IS a lot of corn here. However, there was plenty of corn grown in Michigan as well. In fact, there are times when I think we are still living in Michigan just by the look of the land. Cheryl and I took these pics a few weeks ago while on one of our many "bug hunts" You see, Butterflies get hit by fast moving cars and you can find many of them, intact, along the road. This is great because we no longer have to "harvest" any or chase after them with out butterfly nets. Anyway, Cheryl commented that the corn was quite tall. Taller than most we have seen before. So we decided to pose and take a few of the rural area. Personally, I liked the fact that once you get off the main road, traffic was non-existent. The air has cooled quite a bit since those first few weeks we arrived. Fall is in the air! I can't wait to see what Iowa looks like during the harvest time.

The summer of the Cicada

I thought it was just my imagination, but there seem to be a large number of cicadas this summer. I counted 40 husks around the base of a small tree! And that was just one of many trees in the area. The residence that I have talked to also agree that there seem to be more this year. It's pretty cool actually, since their singing can drown out the crickets at times. Anyway, I captured a few interesting pics of some left over husks on a tree as they lined up in a row. I know that there are the 17 year cicadas that hatch every 17 years ( duh!) but I'm not sure these are the same ones. I believe there is just a bumper crop ( pun intended) here in Iowa of cicadas. The residences have also informed me that this is a rather hot, steamy, rainy summer compared to most summers in Iowa. So I should not let this one year shape my image of the state over all. It's too bad, because I like the abundance of butterflies and cicadas. Just not a real fan of the heat and humidity all that much.

I Can Post Pics once again!

Well, after some brainstorming, I found a way to get my camera to talk to the computers here at the library. I was fortunate enough to find the missing translator...A fire wire. Or at least that is the computer lingo for it. I had one that came with the camera, but wouldn't you know it, I got lost in the transit from Michigan to here. Anyway, I have much to blog about as I page through the last several months of pics I have on the camera. I'll also try to take more now that I know I can post them. Other than that, there is really not much new here ( except for us that is! Everything in Iowa is new!) I have been exploring some part time filler jobs to help get us to the next Pearson gig. So far, not much luck. The weather has cooled down and the kids are back at school. ( makes for a very quiet shopping experience at the mall!) I'll start finding more adventures to post about. Hope everyones week is going well!

Oh Happy Wedding Day!

The day has finally come and gone and from now on, Julie will be a married woman. For those who don't know, Julie is Cheryl's sister and my sister-in-law. That is right, She got hitched on Saturday and Cheryl and I drove to Grand Rapids and back to Iowa the same day so we would not have to stay the night in another hotel. The wedding was small, ( just the way we like them!) and short ( another great feature!) It was held in the Fredrick Meyer gardens among all the tropical plants, trees, and birds. Very pretty, however, the groom looked like he was about to pass out from all the sauna-type heat! Hopefully the pics will show off the colorful background to all its glory. Other than that, Cheryl and I came back Saturday night and took Sunday to recover from the trip. It was fun catching up with the folks and relatives at the reception. Small weddings are fun because there are not too many people there and you can spend at least a little time with them all. Other than that, things are back to normal. I might have a little more time to blog in the future so we'll see how it goes. Cheryl is talking about getting a cheap computer so we can put pics online once again. Good news for me and the blog! Hope everyone has a great week!

Pearson Project Finished!

That is right, the project is over a day ahead of schedule. This means that we have an entire day to get ready for our travel back to Michigan for the wedding. In case you are just tuning in...Cheryl's sister is getting married on Saturday and we are expected. Luckily, we will have an entire day to prepare that we had not expected. There is much to do..but you probably do not want to read about that. The really exciting news is that Red ( remember Red? The Shop cat?) He caught an Rabbit! Before you panic, he did not hurt it. In fact he was quite gentle and even I was surprised that he caught it. He is not really noted as one of the hunters (Rashi and Hiro are the two "killers") Anyway, he was very cute carrying that thing around. Even thought it was small for a rabbit, he was still larger than most of the toys the cats play with. It is unfortunate that I didn't get any pics, but this one I found on the net looks pretty close to what I witnessed. Hope everyone has a great weekend. Ours will be busy!

Working for the weekend!

Well, the weekend has finally come and I really don't have much to blog about. I mean...having a job is much more boring than having a business. The business was a constant roller coaster of ups and downs that you never could expect. Plus there always seemed to be a project on the back burner to work on during the "off" time. Even Cheryl, who swore that we would never return to any business venture in the future, comments on how things lack that special spark. Well, money is still the key here, even though we now have jobs. We still lack a significant cash flow to catch up on past bills and store a little away for the future. Last night we were even talking about that one thing we have not yet accomplished. Once we get enough money to get my own computer again, I will probably have more to say on the subject. But until then I'll just have to sit tight and try to keep expenses down. ( A very difficult thing to do!) I still have this bluegill thing on my brain even though I'm not sure where I fit in the puzzle. Well, enough of my rant.... Our project will most likely end in the middle of the week next week, so Cheryl and I will once again be on the hunt for a "filler job" I hear Subway is hiring... Sandwich artists are celebrated more here than in Michigan.

Hooray for Kalona Library!

Well are we just not the luckiest people ever? It seems the the Kalona library stays open longer and later then its Wellman counterpart. And since we have to pass through Kalona on our way home, we have a couple of opportunities to log on each week before they close. So what has happened this week in Iowa? Well probably not much in the overall scheme of things. I turned 40....I guess that is a big deal. I don't feel any more mature...only older physically. ( aches and pains that is) Cheryl and I have found a renewed vigor in searching the roads for butters that have an unfortunate meeting with a fast moving vehicle. And today we stumbled upon a live Polyphemus moth! Since she was alive, I did not want to kill her, so we picked her up out of the rain and put her safely on the wall under the eaves. I have only seen one other one in Michigan and it fell into one of the trout ponds and faded. Cheryl's sister Julie, will be getting married here soon and we are planning on attending so that means another trip to Michigan. At first we were planning on a three day trip, but Cheryl and I are sick of hotels and really just want to get back home as soon as possible. Also we really should not be wasting much money at this point. It should be fun! And we have been looking forward to it all summer, so perhaps I'll be able to snap a pic here and there and post it one of these days. Hope everyone has a great week!

Back to work!

It has been a challenging two weeks. Challenging in that the money is trickling out and we have had to find things to do around here that cost nothing! But that is all about to change as our next project is coming up n Wednesday. The times are such that it is highly unlikely that I will have the opportunity to blog again any time soon. At least for two more weeks. So this is the last time unless I find another library that stays open longer or a computer of my own. In the mean time, a little update on what we have been doing with our time. Basically Cheryl and I have been taking walks and rides around the area to get a better feel for things. On our walks, we discovered that there are a wide assortment of insects that the cars kill as they whip by at 60 mph down these country roads. So Cheryl and I have assembled a few bug displays for the local library. Some kids started it by finding insects around the building and it seems that everyone has been slowly adding to the collection. For us...It's all about the butterflies! We even discovered one that we have never seen before and is a rare southern stray here in Iowa: the Fairy Sulfur! It's cute and we actually saw one flying around so there are more than one in the area. Very cool if you are a lepodopterist! ( butterfly fanatic) In other news, The rain was pretty hard last night and we got 5 inches...flooding a few of the area farms! nothing too bad, but with as much rain as we have had..there was no where the water could go. It's too bad there are no pics to show. Well, Hopefully I'll have a chance to add something, but without the day to day carving like before, there is not much else to say anymore. Have a great week everyone!