3 Quarters Today

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And the Waving Wheat, Can Sure Smell Sweet

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Wheat in Western Nebraska
Wheat in Western Nebraska (harvested Mid June)

When the wind comes whipping down the plain, Neeeebraska. yup, not Oklahoma., but western Nebraska near Palisade.

Some people consider us a fly over state without much scenery, but I would argue there is something amazing at every turn, if you just know what to look for and why it’s important.

For example after stopping at this field you can hear a rustling sound as wind blows through the dry wheat. There is an illusion of waves moving across the prairie in an endless roll, never hitting the shore.

The wheat may look soft, but the heads and beards are actually quite coarse. Pick off a spike and break off one of the 30-50 kernals, rub it between your fingers and inside is a single grain of wheat. Put it in your mouth to taste the nutty taste. Look out across the horizon at the old abandoned homestead and the clouds rolling by, sigh. It’s peaceful, yet not quiet as the wave roll in the background. It’s soothing.

From this field of over 640 acres comes bushels of wheat which will be made into bread that you will pick up in your supermarket for just one dollar. The farmer was paid less than 0.05 for that loaf.

Other Ag Facts About wheat

America’s Bread Basket

  • Each American consumers, on average, 53 pounds of bread per year.
  • Assuming a sandwich was eaten for breakfast, lunch and dinner, it would take 168 days to eat the amount of bread produced from one bushel of wheat.
  • A family of four could live for 10 years off the bread produced by one acre of wheat.
  • One bushel of wheat will produce 73 one-pound loaves of bread.
  • In 1997, Kansas‘s wheat farmers produced enough wheat to make 36.5 billion loaves of bread, or enough to provide each person on earth with 6 loaves of bread.
  • Farmers receive approximately 5 cents (or less) from each loaf of bread sold.

Want to follow a wheat harvesting family? Head over to Nebraska Wheatie

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#22/52: Wild West Hotel, Nebraska

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1800's Western Hotel
1800’s Western Hotel

During Pioneer Days in Palisade Nebraska I found this beauty of a hotel. Not sure when it was built, but the locals I talked to thought it was sometime in the 1880’s.  It now houses JD Photography and part of the the Bostock Exhibit photography display of glass prints from the late 19th century.

Hotel Porch circa 1880's
Hotel Porch circa 1880’s

If these walls could talk what would they say about the people who stayed in this hotel? Cowboys, adventures, pioneers, politicians, or even outlaws and rustlers most likely passed through here. Some might of even stayed a while and visited the saloon across the street, which is still standing.

Processed in Lightroom 4, sepia preset with vinnette

#19/52: Buffalo on the Prairie

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Buffalo on the Nebraska Prairie
Buffalo on the Nebraska Prairie (SOOC)

A lone buffalo stands guard between Omaha and Lincoln Nebraska at the Lee Simmons Wildlife park. While he may not be wild, or even real, the buffalo inside the park are real. It is ironic this buffalo stands next to a fence, which to me symbolizes how barbed wire and man civilized the prairie to the point where the only buffalo can only be seen in captivity.

The above shot is straight out of camera shot, a little over exposed. When I adjusted the exposure the scene was just too contrasted for the texture of the bronze buffalo. So I turned him to black and white in Lightroom 4.  This is a reach for me as I LOVE the blue of the sky and high contrast.

I adjusted the clarity in the clouds and reduced the shadows in the grass.

Buffalo in Nebraska
Buffalo in Nebraska

What version do you like best?

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