Everywhere a sign II

We are fortunate to live in a time and place where we can read and comprehend the messages around us.

FOOD FOR THOUGHT — Finding a numbered grape tomato was the last thing I expected when fixing the dinner salad. (Not really a sign, but this was an excuse to post it — or perhaps it is a sign that the device printing the expiration dates on the container needs adjustment.)

MODERN REST AREA — Sign along I-35 in Missouri. Not sure I want to know what the alternative is.

BEHIND THE SIGN — Iowa has adopted the nice habit of attaching bird boxes to its interstate signs.

BUSINESS UNUSUAL — Debated about posting this, but this sign is proudly displayed on U.S. 65 in Missouri to advertise an auto repair business.

Shadows of former lives.

Despite being home for a week, our thoughts are still on the road somewhere along the vast flatness that is the prairie land of the Dakotas, the vibrance of “The Cities,” and the cornfields of Iowa.

Evening lit by headlights heading south on I-29 in South Dakota.

Shadows of former insects fall across the dash.

Looking up through the top of a concrete tepee at an interstate rest stop in southern South Dakota. Someone's now-deflated football joins a bird's nest as addenda to the structure.

Polar bear at the Como Park zoo in St. Paul cools his booty on a hot summer day.

Shadows sweep the stone at Minnehaha Falls, Minnesota.

Abandoned house sits alone near Stack Slough WMA in North Dakota.

Lone tree breaks up the horizon, along with wind turbines, in northern Iowa.

Everywhere a sign.

Flying is miraculous. How those mammoth metal tubes stay in the air is still amazing. However, traveling by car allows one to see so much more. The two-seater, rag-top trip to the upper Midwest produced a bevy of signs. Alas, the we missed capturing most interesting one, south of Sioux Falls, South Dakota, which read: “Private dirt pile. No trespassing.”

Others from our trip:

"I'm Terrible, and I have a casino."

Is it a command or a benefit? Parking lot sign at Stillwater, Minn.

Night crawlers and pet care. Home business diversification in Hudson, Wisc.

Obviously written for people who have work-related target fixation. Spotted somewhere in Iowa.

Classic mid-century-ish motel sign in St. Joseph, Mo.

The dinosaur is not extinct. Sinclair lives on.

Wind turbines.

Iowa has more wind turbines than any state we’ve visited, except Texas. North of Ames, there are almost as many as there are cornfields, as seen from I-35 north.

Wind turbines rise from a cornfield along I-35E.