The farmer had read about them in the Des Moines newspaper a few days before they hit his hayfield. The armyworm becomes an army moth, and normally the life cycle of moth-egg-moth stays in southern states. They’d never seen such a thing: beautiful alfalfa one day and stripped brown, dead stems the next. Those damn armyworms cleaned out so many hay fields this year in Iowa, including his third cutting. They comment on the beans, the corn, and the hay along the way. So, after finishing chores, the farmer and his wife drive forty miles to the big-city casino-hotel. Of course, the neighbor tells him to go and enjoy it. He knows his neighbor will check in on the beef cattle, but he hates to ask for help. He convinces himself, with encouragement from his wife, that all will be well on the farm for 24 hours while he is away. His wife wanted to get away, maybe a little anniversary break and head to the casino – not just for a day, but for an overnight. He looks to be at loose ends standing in the modern lobby with quiet jazz music playing in the background. His hands are stuffed into his jean’s pockets, perhaps hiding oil stains around his fingernails. He has gray hair and a shy, kind, wrinkled face. He gets dressed in his fresh button down shirt and blue jeans. His wife is sleeping in, and he’s up early. I heard him ask, “Do you know what the temperature is outside this morning?” I know his story, or at least build a close narrative around his one question. A farmer and I were standing next to each other at the front desk of a casino hotel. This morning’s statistics gathering reminds me of a summer trip to Iowa a few years ago. Unless there are milk cows involved dairy farmers have timelines driven more by milkings than weather. What needs to happen first thing in the morning, mid-morning, mid-day, early afternoon, late afternoon, and, hopefully, the work wraps up by early evening. This is how a farmer wakes up and starts the day: a culling of environmental facts that push the mental “farm calendar” into action. My garnering of this information at the beginning of a day isn’t normal for me, yet it is familiar. There is a 70% chance of rain beginning around 2 p.m. The high temperature for the day is 79 degrees. I went to bed very early last night and am up very early this morning, before 5 a.m.
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