FARMING IN THE COLORADO DESERT

Yep, the title is correct. I was driving through a spectacular canyon, over near the Utah border about a week ago, and it was a typical dry day (humidity 6%) in the midst of rock walls and lovely old juniper trees. Then, as I rounded a sharp turn in the highway, this scene opened up. A farmer was bailing hay, and right now hay in this part of the country is scarcer than gold nuggets. We are in the midst of a very bad drought. People are selling their cattle because of the weather.

This scene gave me a rare view of what can be done when you are living out in the middle of nowhere. Ah, but there was a small, but nice, river running through this canyon, and the farmer was making the best of a good situation. He was pumping water from the river and field flooding his piece of land. You can left click on this image to enlarge it; then you will see the farmer in the distance. I almost passed this scene by, but it was so unusual and strikingly lovely that I had to add it to my collection of Colorado images.

I always have a stout tripod with me on my outings, and I seldom make an image without it. Keep going, there are a lot of images and short essays posted on this blog, and it will take you a spell to see half of what I have added during the past couple of years.