Field work

I was south of Rensselaer this week taking pictures and noticed some really interesting clouds.

OK. Actually I took the picture of the tractor and noticed the clouds later. The big tractors take up almost the entire road.

A bit further down the road I saw people digging in a harvested field.

They were installing drainage tile. This area is almost a mile west of US 231 where there are some houses that have water problems with big rains. Habitat for Humanity wanted to build out there but were told not to.

I wonder where the tile is from. Recently I found that there Francesville has a large factory making drainage tile. As I have written this blog, I have learned a lot and have become very aware of how much I do not know about this area.

This beautiful stream in not a river or a creek. It is the Howe Ditch, which joins with Carpenter Creek a mile downstream and then empties into the Iroquois. In some parts of the country, the farmers must irrigate. In our area they must install tile and dig ditches to take away excess water.

Addendum: On a completely unrelated note, I learned today via my mailbox that the Big Top Flea Market has a new owner, Clint Johnson, who took over from Howard Marshall. See the article here, with one of my pictures.