pioneer road

the fallow, bush hogged field behind the big box stores is once again teeming with pioneer plants and they are working well into autumn to insure there is another round of plants in a few months...that plant in the second photo is not a thistle and if it weren't so tall i'd call it a variety of clover...which it may be...or may not...identification will take some research...starting with the usda's guide to native plants...the third photo is the ubiquitous dandelion going to seed and the fourth photo is a thistle...there are lots of those out there...the fifth photo is of some skeletal reminders that this was a cornfield at one time...and the cracks in the soil indicate that october has been an exceedingly dry month on the south end of the inland sea...just down the road is the road to nowhere..it would seem complete...it has painted lines and a sidewalk and its end is clearly demarcated by the crash barriers...that it leads exactly nowhere is, perhaps, a reflection of the zeitgeist...there is a framework for a sign out in the distance...it may provide some information as to what to expect when the process is complete...it may also say only "available" or "commercial space for rent"...as if there isn't enough already.