Dan Kistler Studios

Late November

The sky today was crystal clear, a bright and intense blue from horizon to horizon. The air was crisp and sharp. No clouds in the sky and no bugs in the air. Perfect day for a ride in late November in southern Illinois. It seemed that all the farmers in the area took this day to harvest their corn. It has been standing in the fields for months dried out and ready to harvest but it has also been raining and keeping the corn wet. Today the corn fields looked like ancient forests of shriveled grasses ready to be cut down. What I found strange was one guy drove the combine, another drove the tractor that collects the corn from the combine and usually there were two or three guys just standing around on the road watching. I guess it is like any kind of work project. One guy does the work and the rest just stand around and watch or lean on their shovels. Moral support perhaps.

Perfect day for a ride except it was the day after Thanksgiving. At the half way point of the ride I suddenly felt like I had had enough. My cookies were starting to come up. Maybe it was the extra helping of mashed potatoes from the day before. Or the ham, or the stuffing. Whatever it was I was still stuffed the day after the feast.

Moral of the story. Don’t ride the day after a big feast. Give it another day. Or go really slow and watch out for the combines and the guys standing on the road just watching.