The scurs had the Weather Eye dialed in and delivered a week that was a thing of beauty. Will this next week bring us back down to earth ,or will we continue our high-flying ways? Starting Wednesday, partly sunny with highs in the upper 50’s and lows in the upper 30’s. Thursday, mostly sunny with highs in the upper 50’s and lows in the mid-30’s. Sunny on Friday with highs in the low 50’s and lows in the low 30’s with frost likely. Saturday, partly sunny with a fair chance of late day rain. Highs in the mid-50’s with lows in the upper 30’s. Mostly cloudy on Sunday with a modest chance of morning rain. Highs in the mid-50’s with lows in the mid-30’s. Monday, mostly sunny with highs in the mid-50’s and lows in the upper 30’s. Mostly cloudy for Tuesday with a fair chance of rain showers. Highs in the low 60’s with lows in the low 40’s. The scurs are cleaning out the spacious back seat of the Gremlin to haul all their May basket booty. The Full Moon for May is on the 7th. On May 8th we’ve reached 14 hours and 30 minutes of daylight and on the 12th the sun will set at 8:30 p.m. CDT. The normal high for May 7th is 67 and the normal low is 45. The scurs may want the heater on the Weather Eye working again. Sounds like they’ll be wishing it did if it doesn’t.
The Full Moon as mentioned for May is on the 7th and goes by The Full Flower Moon. It’s sometimes called The Corn Planting or The Milk Moon. Back in the day, cows were pastured and the milk would get more yellow coloration from the carotenoid pigment in the fresh green grass. The Ojibwe called this The Blossom Moon and the Sioux knew it as The Moon When Ponies Shed or The Moon of Green Leaves. At the ranch it’s The Full Lawnmower Moon as the shaggy lawn is needing its first haircut of the season. Hmmm…my last haircut was January 16th. My hair looks more like the lawn every day.
The progress this past week in the fields this past week was nothing short of phenomenal. It’s been several years since we’ve had weather cooperate to the degree it has this spring. Farmers have wasted little time taking advantage of it after memories of the past two years. Most corn in the area has been planted and soybean planting should be soon coming to a close barring some unanticipated precipitation events. Some of the first planted corn has begun to emerge although it’s tough to row it completely in many cases. That might not be such a bad thing if temperatures drop as low as forecast for the week. Frost doesn’t usually damage newly emerged corn that much although it seldom does it any favors.
At the ranch the extent of our gardening is the radishes that are doing nicely, yet. Frost generally doesn’t hurt them either but never say never. I have seen it get cold enough to toast the leaves pretty severely. The cold temperatures back in April definitely took its toll on the rhubarb here at the ranch. It caused some of the stems to be hollow, damaged and unfit for pie. Mrs. Cheviot did manage to manufacture one however. That first pie with Schwan’s vanilla ice cream is always a special treat. This one was no exception. Now my concern focuses on the apple and pear trees, all of which have the most buds we’ve ever seen. A frost capable of killing the flower buds followed by cool temperatures limiting bee activity could be a devastating blow not only here but to commercial operations. Crabapples and mast crops could also be subject and that might translate into less food for critters of all kinds going into fall and birds returning next spring.
Speaking of returning birds, there have been several notables this past week including the barn swallows on April 29th and the first house wren being heard on May 2nd. Conspicuously absent so far have been white-crowned sparrows and Harris’s sparrows. Along with them of course are the orioles and the hummingbirds. A jelly feeder and a nectar feeder replaced a couple of the suet feeders so the table was set. So far only unwanted guests in the form of house sparrows. Yep, the little rats with wings have taken a shine to the jelly just like last year and to further infuriate me they’ve also been spotted on the nectar feeder. I foresee a new pellet gun in their future.
The fence at the kindly neighbors was resurrected on Saturday. As usual it took a couple trips around it to figure out where the electric fence wire was tangled with the barbed wire. It was a nice morning to get it done and while we didn’t put any sheep in there just yet, nice to know it’s ready when we are. I did spy a fresh bluebird nest in one of the nesting boxes. It’s one they’ve fledged many broods in over the years. It was gratifying to see with all the human turmoil that life still goes on in spite of all that. In reality it’s just noise after all.
The lawnmowers were readied for another campaign Saturday. Not sure precisely how old they are, but I think Whitey is about a ’96 model when ordering parts and Howard is roughly the same age. Oil, fuel and air filters were changed, the tires were pumped and both were blown off and washed. Lucky for me both batteries held a charge. Better yet, both mowers started and ran. Sunday, I attempted El Capitan, the road cut in front of the house. I was successful much to the delight of Ruby, who had her first grass stained stockings of the young lawn mowing season.
Sunday was also a good day for a drive to Waseca and Barney’s Drive-In. We took the Studebaker after it went through its annual checkup last week. We saw many others out enjoying the nice day, riding motorcycles and cruising in their collector automobiles. It was great to get out if only for a while. We had a couple approach us after we’d parked and placed our order. They reminisced how they’d grown up around Studebakers and were curious about the Silver Hawk. I was obliged to bore them with stories.
When the food came it was just like the old days. The fries were fresh and hot and smelled so good that digging into them was impulsive. Something about eating fresh French fries in the car made them that much more delicious. I managed to spill a little stuff on my shirt although I avoided getting it on the upholstery. I probably wasn’t that lucky in the ’57 Buick when eating at the Tastee Freez in Chatfield. The little cracker box seasonal drive in with a root beer barrel in it was located on the corner of MN Hwy 30 and Fillmore Co. 2. When opened the glove compartment door in the ‘57 Buick became a cup holder. The little light came on so you could see what you were about to spill on your pants and the seats. That was only 57 or 58 years ago but it’s like it happened last night. Funny how time flies…
See you next week…real good then.