June 22 Rumblestrips and Roadkill

Ugh, the smell...! Ugh, the display...! This entry is not for the weak of stomach.

We've all experienced roadkill. But it's tough to have to learn the fauna of a region by the rotting body parts along the road. Innocent little critters just going for a curious stroll, to gather food, or to get warm. And then wham, it's all over... Except for ugh, the smell and ugh, the display...

Today we had pheasant, prairiedog and turtles. Days before it was snakes, skunks and huge prairie jackrabbits (haven't seen the infamous jackalope yet). In the Blackhills; fox, porcupines and possum. In Wyoming; pronghorn antelope and mule deer. Toss in the occasional unlucky domestic feline or canine and it makes for a smorgesborg of carnage. On the inorganic side, the assortment is incredible >> shredded, blown tires, bungy cords and S hooks (I'm starting to pick them up, Oh No!), gloves (never a pair), rope and baling twine (I've noted green, blue, red, pink, orange, yellow and orange colored), bolts witout nuts, nuts without bolts, washers without either, assorted wire (most too short to use), capped pop bottles with about a cup of yellowish liquid inside (brought to you by your enlarged prostated trucker) and about anything else capable of falling off a moving vehicle.

So, while dodging and weaving through the shoulder obstacle course, I manage to creep through 20 miles of thick fog this morning, which finally starts to dissolve by 9 am. I pass the 100th Meridian, which historically was the western limit to deliberate investment by banks and insurance companies in the 1800's. Further westward was considered too risky and "redlined", and today still lags in wealth and prosperity. Terrain has really flattened. The rolling green grasslands west of the Missouri River have become expansive, see-forever mega-farms. With no wind today, I fly at will, 15-18 mph, and quickly reach affluent Ipswich after 53 miles. A bumblebee flies with me for a stretch but he too gives up. There is security in knowing I can outrun nasty dogs and bees.

In the shade of a huge maple tree, I'm treated to a revealing chat with a retired farmer, about how years of handling farm chemicals had left him in toxic shock til he retired and changed his lifestyle and diet. Now, he splits his year between Ipswich, SD and Casa Grande, AZ. (He insists that he does not miss the minus 40 degree winters.) Then the eye opener>> Believe it or not, in todays geneticlly-modified food industry, he told me that "engineers" have developed a corn seed and a bean seed that are immune to the herbicide Roundup, so that the chemical can be broad-based sprayed on fields directly after planting, with no harm to the crops (It kills the farmers and poisons the soil, but what's to worry?) There is no more soil tilling and manure fertilizing. A seed injecting machine pressure sets the seed, various watering methods containing Roundup and fertilizer pass over during the growing season, then the crop is harvested in record time and with record produce. The bottomline is well nourished. I mentioned the small but existing organic farming culture in the PNW, and he said that he now only eats "organic". Wow!

Feeling secure that the animals are dead and the ground toxic, I'm back into the 90 degree heat for the last 26 miles into Aberdeen (pop. 24,000). I knew I was approaching "the big city" when I spied a discarded Starbuck's cup along the road. Tonite's palace is the Comfort Inn, with a plate of freshly baked choco-chip cookies waiting on the counter (thinking of you Rick!) and the air conditioned lobby, and settling in is way too easy. Think I'll stay an extra day...

Pre-beers, pampering the queen, and a delish pasta dinner fill up the evening (and my stomach) nicely. There is a nice purr coming from the air conditioner.