The days dwindle down to a precious few

"For it's a long, long while from May to December

But the days grow short when you reach September

And the autumn weather turns the leaves to flame..."

-- September Song

I decided it was time to get out of the office and go see Nebraska. It's been a post-pandemic while since I have done so. I jumped at the chance to ride to Chadron with a friend with numerous stops along the way.

Call it a visual checkup to see how the Cornhusker State is holding up amid almost daily reports of increasing drought and the uncertainty of crop yields. Things are very green in spots, very brown in others. But hope springs eternal and the harvest continues.

As summer refuses to become fall in most places, the Nebraska Department of Transportation forges ahead with completely replacing long random sections of Interstate 80, taking it down to grade and starting over. The resultant crossover lanes, generally in double-digit miles, provide a break from the monotony of straight flat roadway.

It can also be terrifying watching the big lumbering semis come at you with only flexible rubber tall cones to separate eastbound from westbound traffic.

But, from a quickie-mart in Kimball to a Chinese restaurant in Chadron, it's the people that make the difference. Friendly, helpful, for the most part relaxed, people care. They may recognize strangers and wonder what brings them to their community, albeit briefly, but they rarely treat one differently.

There was a homemade sign in a fence row west of Chadron that simply proclaimed "Trump Lost." Several other signs along the way promised an "end to property taxes" by supporting the "Epic Tax." That's Sen. Steve Erdman's proposal formerly known over the decades as the transaction tax or the consumption tax. Just say "no."

I listened to a history professor from Southern Methodist University in Texas tell an audience at Chadron State College that he thinks a controversial book from the 1930s titled "Great Plains," was still relevant and could as easily be redeemed as it has been dissed. I must admit that the title, "What's So Great About the Great Plains," caught my interest.

With a goal of reaching Sidney on our return trip, I took great glee as I saw a sugar beet dump operating near Hemingford. I am still puzzled about the train laden with full coal cars traveling north into Alliance. I thought the coal came from mines in the west and traveled to ports and plants to the east.

After breakfast at the motel in Sidney, I encountered a friendly couple who was just entering the breakfast area. The man stopped and asked me, "on a scale of 1-10, how was the breakfast, a minus three?"

I was pleased to report it was a seven or eight. The patty sausage and gravy were both quite good. The folded egg and cheese omelet resembling a taco was a bit chewy, but edible. We shared a laugh and he thanked me.

Yes, all is still right with the world.

Pardon my excitement over this next revelation. I guess it has been around since last December, but the I-80 eastbound rest area near Brule is a site to behold. A wall of glass windows under a radically peaked roof is breath taking.

Our friends at NDOT tell us it features 61 truck-parking stalls, 54 passenger vehicle stalls and six RV stalls. They describe it as having a unique design that serves as a gateway into Nebraska from Colorado by pointing west.

We made it back to Lincoln in time to miss a massive prairie fire near Milford that closed the highway for a time and avoided heavy traffic that had culminated at Memorial Stadium on the University of Nebraska campus.

For the most part, Nebraska looks good as the days dwindle down and we turn our thoughts to possibly hunkering down for a cold and dry winter. If you get a chance, try to enjoy it before then!

J.L. Schmidt has been covering Nebraska government and politics since 1979. He has been a registered Independent for more than 20 years.