So that AL would be Alabama, where I went last week (on Wednesday) after LA to check on yet some more crop research. I was picked up in Montgomery by SAM Jourday and taken a little ways North to meet Christy Hicks who is a Regional Extension agent for this area. She is doing some plot work in cotton to evaluate foliar fertilizer treatments, including Sure-K. She had cooperated with Jourdan on some similar work in the past, and now is expanding the investigation. She is very nice and anxious to see this through. The cotton had just been sprayed a couple days ago. No differences yet, but I'm patient. Below we see Christy bring Jourdan up to speed on what is going on in the plots. It was around 95 degrees, and we see Jourdan sporting the new long sleeve sporty Liquid attire. Even though it is dark color and long sleeve, it is supposed to wick away your sweat. That's not a pleasant thought, but Jourdan said he was keeping his cool. I'll admit I was hot. But I wasn't being wicked.
We also looked at the plots with similar treatments at the nearby E.V. Smith Research Center which is part of the Alabama Experiment Station which is run by Auburn University. This plot was recently sprayed with Sure-K. Nope, still can't see any differences. But I'm optimistic that this will be a boll buster come fall harvest. Christy is very nice and certainly a pleasure to visit with and she is anxious to see this work too. It will be a benefit to the fine farmers of Alabams. The crops could use a little shower as the nearby corn plots were starting to roll their leaves.
I had only been to Montgomery once several years ago, but didn't get to do any sight seeing then. But there was still some daylight, so what is there to see? Well, here is the first white house of the Confederacy. It was lived in by Jefferson Davis and his family until the capital was moved to Richmond, VA in 1861. I guess I had forgotten that Montgomery was the Confederate capital once. Well it seems I'm seeing several sites about Jefferson Davis this summer. (Recall the monument in Kentucky just a few blogs ago.)
And right across the street is the capital of Alabama. They have all of the states flags there in front. They are in alphabetical order so that Alabama could be first. Michigan is in the M section. Well as we were driving to dinner that night the skies opened up and rained super hard on us. I forgot to take a picture if you can believe that. Jourdan's windshield wipers worked, but were having trouble keeping the waterfall from the sky cleared away. Hope some of it soaked in on the cotton where we were earlier. But it rained so hard it may have just r-u-n-n-o-f-t.
I left very early the next morning to come back to Michigan. I think 5:30 am flights should be illegal, but I did get back to Lansing at 1:00. Inside the Montgomery airport is this display commemorating the former Blue-Gray Football Classic. I remember that game. It was a college all star game for seniors and teams were based on whether their college was in the old Confederate states or not. And it was played in Montgomery from its start in 1939 until it's demise in 2001. But look at all the jerseys of famous former players. Many of these guys are now in the Pro Football Hall of Fame: Art Monk, Fran Tarkenton, YA Tittle, Len Dawson, Bart Starr, Don Maynard and Chuck Bednarik. And I actually got an autographed picture from D.D. Lewis. (I love pro football.)
Well that was my week in LA and AL. Don't think there are any other states whose two letter postal abbreviations are mirror images. Oh wait, there's Minnesota (MN) and New Mexico (NM). Probably won't make that combination anytime soon. But this was a good week for research visits, Liquid camaraderie, good food and some interesting sights. (I'm signing off, but still thinking if there are any more states like that.)
