If you shuck it, they will come

Oops, this post was still in my draft section, oh well better late then never.

57th annual Sweet Corn Festival 2009! West Point was rollin' in the kernels this month.

I went up on Wednesday night to take advantage of the "shuckfest". Although I didn't sit down and shuck I got some great pictures of the event. There's 17 tons of corn poured out onto Merchmans parking lot and people come from surrounding counties and even other states to partake in the festivities. After shucking, the corn is picked up in milk crates and taken to an ice bath where it's cooled down and loaded into a refrigerated semi trailer. Pretty interesting, huh? I think so. From here it goes to the square where a steam engine cooks it. Now that's allot of corn.

What a busy summer this has been ....

This has been one busy summer and it's not over yet ! Chicago-Harley's- Sweet Corn Festival-Swimming-Bird Watching-Flower Gardening- Storm Chasing !!

We went to Chicago for a conference with the company I work for. This was alot of fun and a great time for picture taking for me.

This is the sail boat named Windy. It is very tall. You can take a ride on this and actually be a "hands on helper".Picture taken at Navy Pier.





This was also taken at Navy Pier. I edited it to give it a cartoon look.





Now for a night shot. This is the canal with reflections of Chicago night life.





On one of our many walks around the streets of Chicago we found this beautiful water fountain.Since I'm the one always taking the pictures ,there's never proof that I was actually there. I talked Gina into taking this picture of Rick and I.





This picture just reminds me of Forest Gump - run Forest,run ! It is Bubba Gump's !!!


Now when we came back from Chicago we found an intruder in the dog dish. With the wet season we've had we are destine to have frogs and toads. Well,this toad had taken up residency and was eating the dog food. And believe it or not, he is still here !!


We are also still overwhelmed with the hummers this year. I have counted as many as 10 buzzing around - and it is hard to keep 4 feeders full.



We also have several mourning doves. This one was injured and sat around in the tree all day. When it finally did get down , Harley spotted it and by the time I got outside- it was too late. Sorry for the extremely gross picture but it is part of the story :)



Deer- Iowa - corn & bean fields- YES we have more than we need here. This doe is in our backfield every day,several times a day. I don;t think she is afraid of anything. Once the shooting starts I bet she'll be gone.


In another busy day we went to Burlington to see the "Sentimental". It is a Boeing B17 bomber plane. It was built in the 1940's. This plane has never been in combat but was used in Nevada for fighting fires.You can read more about this plane by clicking this link . http://www.azcaf.org/index.html?var=http://www.azcaf.org/pages/aircraft_bios/B-17G_FlyFort.html


Rick trying his talent out :)












Rick and Brian are working on an old 10 speed that Rick has had for years. They got it all up and going and talk about a work out ! Needless to say it is now parked behind the garage. Yes, I know, we need to get it out and ride ! BUT it is much easier firing up the Harley.




My Cannas are finally blooming. This shot reminds me of a tropical scene with the storm clouds in behind. Storms , now that is a good one. We have had alot of those too. The pictures below were taken at different times but you can tell we have some pretty views of the lightning and clouds rolling in.
The pond picture was taken early in the morning at work.



Now here in Iowa we celebrate every time you turn around. Each town has there own events. In West Point - it is the Sweet Corn Festival. ALL the corn you can eat FREE !!! This is a big time event - more info here. http://www.westpointcornfestival.com/
Rick is trying decide on the biggest ear !
Shuck fest - they shuck 17 tons of corn in less than an hour. The whole town comes out for this. It is held on the Wednesday before the festival.
So my brother is go-cart racing now. This is him - Vernon - the hobbyist ! If it ain't remote control cars it's bigger ones, who knows he may be looking at some Nascar :) You can see some video clips of him on my You Tube site www.youtube.com/harleypass

This sunset picture of the sailboats was taken in Fort Madison. Rick went fishing and I went shooting ! What a great combo.

Alley the alligator- she lets me know how warm my pool is.

I will end this blog with a beautiful scenic picture of Lake Geode. The clouds were just right for this shot. This picture will hopefully be in the 2010 Access Energy calendar. I will keep you posted. They don't announce the winners until next March- so I have a long time to keep my fingers crossed.

As always you can see more of my work at www.flickr.com/harleypass

I will be shooting a wedding the end of September so wish me luck and as always have a great day !!

A photograph is usually looked at - seldom looked into. ~Ansel Adams