Go Green

Dark skies: Millard Fowler at his wheat fields last week. The skies look ominous, but little if any rain fell.

Memories: Fowler carries this photo of his wife, who died at the end of 2007, in his wallet. She was his raven-haired city girl, and he was her goofy country boy. They were married during the heart of the Dust Bowl. Surviving her death was the hardest thing he’s ever done, Fowler said.

By John Sutter

Millard Fowler, 95, was kind enough to take a break from harvesting wheat this afternoon to talk to me from his combine for the Environment Podcast. Fowler is on the phone from Boise City to talk about a drought in the Oklahoma Panhandle that he says is drier than the Dust Bowl, which he lived through.

I asked Fowler about his health because he told me he was hospitalized last week with heart problems. This week, he’s already back out to harvest. He doesn’t expect to bring in much of a crop this year — and probably won’t break even, he said. But he’s not planning on leaving the area, and says other locals are firmly enough rooted in this land that they won’t be leaving either.

Watch a video featuring Fowler and other Cimarron County residents below: