Once the corn hits its stride in midsummer, I become enamored with driving in the countryside of southwestern Minnesota.
The hottest August day, when a south wind is blowing 10-15 miles per hour and the stalks are clattering … fabulous.
And in the first half of October, when one-third of the corn has been harvested, and the rest is still covered in that light brown/gold sheath, just waiting, and you spend as much time looking in the ditch or the stubble hoping to see a pheasant as you do the road … even better.
Yes, I spent my early life in Fulda, a village of 1,100 on the south edge of Murray County, but it is rather antithetical — this fondness for the prairie and all that goes into producing its bounty, and having been successful with my main goal in life, which was never having to lift or fix anything to draw a paycheck.
Here in my dotage, things couldn't be more grand as a part-time sports columnist at the Star Tribune. We have plenty of firepower to take care of the important stuff, and the bosses (mostly) allow my whims.
Thus, early last week, I was on the way to Adrian, straight west of Worthington in the middle of Nobles County, with the high school playing host to its annual cross-country invitational at the golf course.
The prairie drive through the corn loses something as you approach from the north, and encounter dozens of giant turbines, harvesting wind.
Those turbines were whipping in winds approaching 30 mph on this 80-degree day. They might be good for the power grid, but they ruin the pastoral landscape.