Country Views: The Golden Season

A flat sky and golden hues.

The time of Summer has passed on. We're looking at Fall straight in the eyes now. The entire feel of the World here has shifted gears.

There is something about this time of year. It is........quieter. I think that has to do with the change of hues, partially. We go from Spring and Summer's loud,brash greens, eye popping flower colors, and bright skies to Fall's more subdued golden hues of yellow and brown under dun colored skies.

Then there are the sounds. The song birds have all fallen silent, or they have moved on Southward. Only the occasional bright rasp of the Blue Jay is heard now. Insects chirp incessantly, not just during the dark hours, but all day now. It makes it seem as if one should be sleeping. The trees are losing leaves and starting to fade. Some have already shown patches of golden yellows or oranges.

And out in the country everything is turning a golden yellow. Corn, soybeans, and ditch plants. All going toward a slow drift to the Brown Season. The color green is getting punctuated with contrasting colors, and it looks great, for now.

Petrie Road's Level B section was  no match for the Ti Muk 2, despite it being a bit wet.

I had to get out to ride. It was my first Monday off for the "off season". I suffered through this last Fall, Winter, and early Spring too. Work is not going well, but that's a story that will have to wait to be told later. Hang tight on that, and yes- I'll be all right. Soon.....sooner than later, all will be made clear.

Anyway..... It was a very humid but cool day, and the threat of rain persisted throughout the morning hours. I could have sat and waited to see what might happen, or I could get out and make something happen. I chose the latter. I'm glad that I did, despite the fact that it actually rained briefly just as I was on my way to my starting point at Prairie Grove Park.

As you know from yesterday's post, I re-upped the sealant on the Ti Muk 2 and it needed riding in, plus with the flat pedals that bike has, I could finish up a "last test ride" for some shoes I am reviewing for RidingGravel.com. So, I loaded up that bike, strapped some rain gear, just in case, to the rack, and headed South with a view to ride Petrie Road's Level B section and then back to town. Just a short ride, but on the fat bike into the Southeast wind, it wasn't necessarily easy. The roads weren't bad but the wind was stiff.

In fact, speaking of those roads, the scars from last Winter are quite evident yet. If we have another difficult Winter, in terms of weather, this situation will play itself out again next Spring with more bad road conditions. Maybe we will get a reprieve from that and see the roads finally recover though. Hard to say anymore with the crazy weather that happens more often now than not.

The Ti Muk 2 bracketed by Sunflowers

Sometimes you have to just stop and look a little closer.

The Level B road was no match for the Ti Muk 2. I rolled that thing like a champ. The sandy bits, the muddy bits, and the rocky bits. Fat tires rule! A gravel bike would have made it a real challenging mile though. I seriously doubt I would have made it without a dab or two.

The Southeasterly wind pushed me back to the truck in a hurry after the B Road. It was almost too easy compared to the grind I had going out. But, I had other things to get to Monday and so I headed back towards the house and got busy. It was crazy to see how fast things change in the country though. That's definitely one thing that has remained the same about this part of Iowa and the World, ironically. There is a constant state of change going on here.