A Old Fashioned Caravan ~ Labor Day Weekend

Blue Moon Setting on the morning 9-1-12

The New Moon set just as pretty as she was the night before. It was a special day. I got on my jeans and made little breakfast burritos for the boys and we all loaded up in the wagon to join our antique machinery club up on Main St.

Our entry in the antique tractor caravan Little Utah Farm

The thunder clouds over The Three Peaks were still sputtering. I was a bit worried about lightening. But the rising sun revealed perfect blue skies and a crown of white fluffy clouds over the ranges. The air was crisp and cool and the sunflowers and farms glistened under the morning rays.

The sunflower fields looking southeast in Cedar City,UT ~  Little Utah Farm 2012

Our caravan journey took off from Cedar City,UT with 19 antique tractors and old antique cars and one Conestoga Wagon holding a whole family of kids and adults. My friend Brooke was there and she rode in the old hay wagon with us throughout the caravan. Her husband Jimmy and her brother rode on their own tractors up ahead of us. Iron County Volunteer Sheriffs proved us with an escort.

The roar of the engines waffled through the breezes and the smell of exhaust blew out of the old tail pipes. 8 miles an hour we putted through the wide open country on Minerville Hwy 130. It was like I imagine they experienced a long time ago as they rode on their wagons and stage coaches. One could really take in the scenery and take lot's of pictures or reflect and dream.

Along our route we saw children standing out by their mail boxes and families waved from their porches and doorways. Cars stopped along the route to snap pictures of the tractors as we proudly streamed by with friendly waves. This is an annual event and people look forward to it.



It was 15 miles to The Gap. Here we gathered along Gap Road before parading through the Parowan Gap. Watch this very short video and enjoy the beautiful scenery.

Once we were all lined up we headed out together through the Gap.

The Parowan Gap

There were club members waiting on the other side with refreshments and Iron County supplied portable restrooms. After a rest we headed to the City of Parowan to park all the tractors for a display as part of the festivites of the Iron County Fair.

Everyone Had beautiful American Flags waving in the breeze. Parowan Gap Utah

The scenery was like a John Wayne movie with high rocky red cliffs, white puffy clouds and green prairies. As the caravan came closer to town, there were green fields of alfalfa and farms with cows and horses which spooked and ran from the spectacle. We passed under the 15 Interstate Freeway and into Parowan . Some folks waved from their porches. It was 28 miles to Parowan and I felt like I could go 28 more. We had so much fun that day. We stayed home Sunday and on Labor Day headed up to Parowan to be in the parade. Again we loaded up into the wagon and took off down the parade route waving at all the people along the route. It was again so much fun.

Color Country Antique Machinery Club Parowan,UT Labor Day 2012

Thank you for visiting Little Utah Farm!
I got a another story brewing for next time,
We hope you come back again.
Until then, take care,
Deborah `MOON`

40 Days of Thunder

And Lightening and Rain...

Paul's snapped this picture August 16,2012
From our front porch.

Last night, I awoke to my little Windy ( our Aussie dog) panting with fear along side my bed. “Thunder again,Windy?” It was yet another storm passing overhead. One of 40 since July. I felt her cold nose push against me as my feet slid off the bed and onto the carpet. “Come on girl. “ We made our way together to the “safe room” down the hall. I grabbed her pillows as we went. My fingers held her collar.

 

 

 

 

 

The “safe room “ is a bathroom with no windows. Though using the plumbing is not so safe during a lightening storm, it is safe to Windy as she cannot see the flashes so easily there. I help Windy relax by being calm myself. I sit there awhile with her and she usually calms after a few minutes and then lies down." There, there" I say softly to her.

 

 

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The Cloud's Journey

Early in the day, on most days, the skies are calm here. This is the time for walking and doing chores and outings from groceries to hikes in the mountain meadows. There are mountains all around the whole valley in all four directions here. During the day the white cloud heads sneak up over the ridge and peek up over the high summits. Once in position, they swell and push upwards into tall towers with their flats bottoms pressed against the warm air. They float like islands throughout the afternoon and meet somewhere in the center.



If a cumulus cloud gets big enough and rises high enough it can form it's own cap very much like caps on top a mountain.
this is called Pileus. Picture taken from Little Utah Farm.

By feeding time they squeeze out a few drops of rain. Those rain drops are so far apart I can walk through them without getting wet. I can hear them on the car port tapping and splatting down but I can not see them.

Lightening Before Thunder

Even though lightening comes first, it is the thunder that alerts me. I feed the llamas under their shelter. The hens do not mind the thunder. During one great down pour I saw one of my hens drenched to the skin while the others gathered dry in the coop. Her name is Daisy May. She is a book full of stories but for now back to the lightening.

Lightening.. Good for The Earth?

Well wouldn't you know, lightening is very good for the earth. Nitrogen (N0 2) can not be used by nature until it is fixed into NO 3. Lightening actually fixes the nitrogen in the soil as do legumes like alfalfa and beans. Everything has it's place in the scheme of things. I spend time appreciating such good orderly direction as this. This also explains the surprising growth of veggies and greenery in my garden. Everything which seemed to grow at normal rate, grew to enormous proportions overnight. Yep, there is magic in that rain and lightening.

Land of Rainbows

After the early evening rain the rainbows appear arching way across the open country and sometimes doubled on top of one another. I call this the land of rainbows you can see them through the irrigation sprinklers and make one with a hose and see them often in the summer rains.

Simultaneous Rainbow and Lightening Strike !Right outside my kitchen door !  Little Utah Farm 8-2012

 

 

 The Show Goes On
 

The rain comes to a halt but lightening continues on for hours and on through the night.
The electricity of the storm flickers above the mountains at sunrise like hot coals after a blazing fire. All is still again. My little Windy wakes up cheery as ever. She does pretty well. She has accepted a "safe room" and appreciates my company in the night until she falls asleep. Makes me feel good to help her out a bit.

 

 

 

Thank you, for visiting Little Utah Farm.

 

Well, that is all for now.  

Been brewing up a story about antique tractors and an actual caravan we took last week across wide open country.  Take care, and believe in those dreams of yours!

 

Until next time,

Deborah MOON

Related articles :

http://www.wxdude.com/page5.html Very good page on thunderstorms, lightening and all. You may be amazed at all these kinds of lightening and how they form.

http://www.lightningsafety.noaa.gov/resources/LightningFactsSheet.pdf Not to scare you but it is good to know about the powerful effects of lightening. A good time to adapt a safety plan for you and yours.