The eastern U.S. was so cloudless last week due to a massive high pressure system that you could actually see fall colors from space.
The eastern U.S. was so cloudless last week due to a massive high pressure system that you could actually see fall colors from space.
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This image also illustrates how artificially brown crop land is. I live in the intermountain west and didn't expect to see that ground color in Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio...
They've been in a drought most of the summer. But ya, also the crops have been pretty much all harvested before this picture was taken.
One of the things I definitely do like living in Indiana is all the trees. In L.A., where I lived for a decade, it was mostly palms and conifers, and then Joshua trees further out. And they're not all that attractive to me in comparison. Our house used to be surrounded by giant oaks that it was built around. Unfortunately we lost some in recent storms and others were too sick to not be a danger. We still have, I think, 5 of them left and a persimmon tree. We also have a playground that we're going to dismantle and replace with another tree. Something local that grows relatively rapidly. Maybe a pawpaw? Not sure yet. Terre Haute, where I live, is famous for its sycamores (to the point that it's the ISU sports team is the Sycamores), so that's an option, but they're kind of boring trees IMO.
I have a giant oak tree next to my house, perfectly positioned so that my house is in direct sunlight in the morning but completely shaded by the tree from noon onwards, so even when it's 100°F outside my house doesn't get above the low 80s. I love that tree - except for right now when I have to rake the fucking yard.
That's really awesome. Our trees basically stop all but a tiny sliver of sunlight from getting to the house, but it's still worth it.
That said, it's better to not rake at all.
Clearly written by someone without much tree cover. If I didn’t clear my leaves, by spring the grass would be gone, replaced with slimy black mold. Bad idea.
That being said my town collects leaves for compost, and I usually use the mulching mower on the last few weeks. Nothing wasted, no pollution, some nutrients put back, and I don’t have to wade through knee deep leaves, or suffer mold allergies in the spring.
Note, decaying leaves tend to be acidic, so check your lawn ph and be prepared to add lime
As I said already, I have a bunch of trees in our yard. We never rake. The grass is fine.
Ya, where I live, trees don't necessarily grow even along the river or in the mountains. Berry season is great, tho!
Terre Haute sounds great! I live up by Elkhart, and while we have way too much farmland, I can't deny how great our forests are up here. We have bogs, too, which are just magical ecosystems.
It's not great at all aside from the trees and a handful of other things.
Or, I guess, if you really like meth.
Also, this place is a very depressed community. About $40,000 a year average household income, so between that and all the meth, the crime rate is also pretty terrible.
That said, I've never been to Elkhart, so I don't know what it's like.
Indiana has remarkable nature, especially in the central and southern state. Not too far from you is Shades SP, I would strongly recommend you check out the Turkey Backbone. It's terrifying but amazing. The flora of that region is a remnant of pre-glacial flooding Indiana, and one can find stands of uncommon conifers there like Tsuga canadensis (Eastern hemlock), and some Populus deltoides (cottonwood) specimens that get over 120 ft tall.
That said, Indiana is a terribly, intractibly backwards state with a rotten culture of meathead "conservatism", Amish fetishism and drug use. My city is rather progressive compared to many neighboring (my old town used to be the Klan capital of the world, and the dragon whatever still lives there), but even with that the quantity of red hats is eyebrow-raising. I'm afraid Indiana will never get out of this hole. It truly is the "south of the north", as they call it.
Shades? I want everyone in the area to know for sure Shades is the worst state park anywhere and no one should ever, ever go to it. They should leave that beautiful, almost empty state park in its very pristine state because it is a terrible place and everyone should definitely go to the very crowded and nowhere near as beautiful Turkey Run state park and leave Shades to us poor people who are making the ultimate sacrifice of keeping those insanely long lines on the Turkey Run hiking trail slightly less insanely long.
Edit: Ah, it's been so long since I could post an inside joke from r/Indiana!
It is harvest season and most crops are brown when it's time to harvest.