Here is a second collection of auxiliary images I took while harvesting the town signs of Warren County with Shannon.

Medora

New Virginia

Couldn’t quite figure out what this was…

This is one of the most enigmatic things I’ve come across in my travels. It was just there. No explanation. Nobody monitoring it. Nothing else around it.

Shannon really wanted to take this picture.

You didn’t know The 4 Wheel Drive was invented in Iowa, did you?

St Marys

They must’ve heard I was coming to town.

87 wins in a row! That is impressive!

88 wins in a row! That is even more impressive!

The streak was 88 wins in a row. It was eventually ended by Des Moines East, which is a school that has more students than St Marys and Martensdale has people combined.

About that 4 Wheel Drive, Here is the story from the Des Moines Concours website:

At the 2020 Des Moines Concours, we’re honoring the Iowa roots of 4-wheel drive. Our 4×4 and 4-Wheel Drive Class pays tribute to the foundational work of Jesse Livingood in creating a 4-wheel drive attachment for a Ford automobile in 1914.

At the time, Iowa’s road system covered a good portion of the state. Roads, particularly in rural Iowa, were little more than graded dirt. Iowa’s “gravel bees” in 1916 and 1917 saw the first concerted efforts by communities to make huge improvements of these roads.

Livingood lived in New Virginia, Iowa and ran his repair shop out of an empty corn crib on the family farm. He tinkered as he sought to improve traction, reduce wear, and lower the running costs of driving on Iowa’s roads and around the farm. This led him to develop a bolt-on 4-wheel drive system that he fitted to a Ford Model T. The system could be mounted to any Ford chassis in three to four hours, and would provide braking on all corners and sure footing in mud, sand, and snow or any other inclement weather Iowa could muster.

Livingood is credited for many more inventions including the “pulley and ball” thrust bearing, the differential transmission, the speed governor, two- and four-cylinder steam engines, and the four-wheel brake system. Sadly, due to errors at the U.S. Patent Office, Livingood did not profit from his inventions and lived a modest life.

There will be one more collection of Warren County pictures.

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This is your reminder that this week’s THE WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE theme is PASSION:

PASSION

PASSION! What a great theme for Year 8 of THE WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE!

But what is a PASSION picture? First we need to establish the difference between love and PASSION. What separates PASSION from love isn’t just a warm feeling about something or somebody. PASSION is what you are willing to suffer for. That is why the movie is called THE PASSION OF THE CHRIST not THE WARM FUZZIES OF THE CHRIST. Because Jesus’ love for us was so intense that he was willing to suffer for us. In the theme reveal picture it shows the result of Jesus’ PASSION for us as he has been lowered from the cross into Mary’s arms after being tortured to death for our sins. I’m sure there are many things in your life that you love. But this challenge asks you to take a picture of something you love so much that you are willing to suffer for it. Remember though the PASSION in your submission doesn’t have to be your own. It can be somebody else’s PASSION as well.

Happy photo harvesting!