The corn stalks are more than knee-high. The rapeseed has been harvested and the poppies cut along with it. Workers are driving tractors along the canal, using flail-choppers to cut the meter-high grass and weeds.
There’s a firm breeze on this 80 degree day and the sky is bright blue. The air is clear enough to reveal the Alps forming their broad arc of one third of the horizon. That always impresses me: looking up from my bike and seeing the Alps in the distance. What a sight, and the stuff of dreams.