Ugly airplanes and other junk

The other day over at Sarge's place Tuna had a great post about beautiful and, well, challenged airplanes.

A quick aside here, does anyone remember the "reality" television show about the couple who had the multiplets? I think the mom was called Kate or something. Only watched it a few times but on one of those episodes the family was going on a vacation and the 95 or so little toddlers were chuffed to be going on a "hairpane." I think that's a charming name. I'm not sure if Orville or Wilbur would have approved, but I bet Eugene Ely would have.

Anyway, I thought I'd throw this pair of rather challenged aircraft out there.

USAF 90th Security Squadron (Warren AFB) UH-1N, manufactured 1967.

A-6E TRAM Intruder, of course! If you don't see it, you don't really habla hairpane. Or maybe it's just me.

Last evening there was a dense pall of greasy black smoke rising over the approach end of the KIBM duty runway. It looked ugly at first. I've been unfortunate enough to see a few of those dense black palls which turned out to be hideous. No worries, however, as it turned out to be a controlled burn.

Just a controlled burn. The smoke had gone from greasy black to fluffy brown by the time I arrived.

A little while back ago I had a post featuring some giant puffball mushrooms. Here's what they look like when they are mature.

And now for a bit of old fashioned junk. BITD it was a fairly common practice for landowners in this part of the world to cast junk and garbage into the depths of one or more draws/washes/gullies on their property. I'm proud to say that I tipped a good bit of garbage into a deep draw on our Ranch's south unit some great many years ago. People didn't produce quite so much garbage back in those days, and nature was pretty good at returning most of the organic stuff to it's constituent elements. We're not talking huge, reeking garbage dumps here, and in those days there was no county landfill, just a city dump, where most of Kimball's garbage mouldered back into a similar elemental state. Plus too also as well, there was serious time and expense involved in hauling a bit of garbage all the way to town. Mind you, I'm making no excuses here. At least I'm pretty sure I'm not.

Garbage wasn't the only thing tipped into draws. Farms and ranches generate a certain quantity of metallic junk. Out of sight, out of mind. I actually continue the tradition to some extent to this day. The old barbed wire and other ferrous debris no longer gets tipped into a draw though. No, in the modern era we pile it in a designated area for future reclamation. When metal prices go high enough, junkmen and ragpickers environmentally aware recycling engineers come out of the woodwork, and a pretty penny is made by all concerned. I've financed several nice rifles and berry much ammo this way over the years.

However, BITD a lot of junk landed in the draw as well. So without further ado, here are a few images (including a non-junk bumblebee foraging on thistle)...

Bumblebee chowing down on Scotch Thistle nectar.

A "Swiss Italian Colony" quart wine bottle and a pop bottle. If I understand the bottle markings it's 1930's era glass.

Ah-ha! an opportunity to channel my inner archeologist.

Revealed, a 4/5 quart (fifth) liquor bottle from 1951!

Wire, a decomposed spring mattress, and if I have the story right, an exploded Model T.

Red ants have integrated the old car/truck into their humble abode. I got bit several times making this image.

Almost certainly a motor oil barrel.

Someone had to make sure.

You may have seen this one before. No one alive knows the story behind this trike.

Over time nature covers the metal, and over more time turns it to molecular dust.

Organic junk. This bull got hit by lightning 4 years ago, only a few hundred yards from the draw.

Okay, I suppose I've done enough damage here for one day. Bring on the crisp autumn nights!