An Early Harvest

On this post-Labor Day Tuesday, I'm okay with putting away the summer whites. But I'm not quite ready for the dried yellows and browns of dormant and dying plants nor the rumble of combines as they chew their way across the corn and soybean fields. A hot dry August means harvest is early this year. Or, at least is beginning early. As I walk across the fields, I notice the curled green grass among the withered vegetation, the cracks in the field, the puffs of dust clouds that follow my feet, the hard ground, and I'm reminded of a similar time in late August five years ago. Then hurricane season hit, and somehow, those far-off storms delivered a much-needed drink of water.