The scurs kept turning the temperature up on the Weather Eye last week with very little success. With a new cable on order from American Motors, will it finally warm us up or are we stuck with global cooling? Starting Wednesday, partly sunny with highs in the mid-70’s and lows in the mid-50’s. Thursday, partly sunny with highs in the mid-70’s and lows in the upper 50’s. Partly sunny Friday with a good chance of rain. Highs in the mid-70’s and lows in the low 60’s. Saturday, mostly sunny with a fair chance of rain. Highs in the low 80’s with lows in the low 60’s. Partly sunny on Sunday with a good chance of rain. Highs in the upper 70’s with lows in the upper 50’s. Memorial Day Monday, partly sunny with a good chance of rain. Highs in the upper 70’s with lows in the upper 50’s. Mostly sunny for Tuesday with highs in the low 80’s and lows in the low 60’s. On May 23rd we surpass 15 hours of daylight for the first time since last July 19th. The normal high for May 23rd is 72 and the normal low is 51. The scurs are still fixin’ to fix the AC on the Gremlin Weather Eye. Baby, you need coolin’.
Abundant rains finally came last Saturday night into Sunday morning. Amounts ranged from 1.2” to well over 3” in places. At the ranch we garnered 1.67” while in Bugtussle proper we tallied 2.05” total. While some thought we might have more than that based on the amount of water ponding and running in area streams, some points to remember: we had tremendous reserves still in the soil after a wet September and October. Drain tile was still running prior to the recent rain. While it had been dry, there was still not much crop growth pulling moisture from the soil profile. And further, temperatures have been on the cool side over the past several weeks. At the SROC for the entire seven-day period from May 7th – May 13th, they accumulated 28 GDU’s. On a single sultry day in July or August with overnight temps in the low 70’s, we’d typically accumulate around that many. Even with the dry air mass that parked over the top of us, there wasn’t enough heat coupled with wind to evaporate a great deal of soil moisture.
Crops are moving, although not exactly at breakneck speed. Much of the corn has emerged, yet looks relatively pale due to the cool and cloudy weather. Soybeans too have begun emerging and up until now, the changes have been fairly subtle. If the warmer forecast comes to fruition finally, that should change in a hurry. Weeds will likely follow suit, although the pre-emerge chemicals that some were convinced did little good may still buy us some time should soil conditions be too wet for postemerge applications. While present, weed growth like crop growth has been slowed by the cooler temps as well. Very few runaways in evidence, yet.
The frost that had concerned us in area fields, gardens and orchards appeared to have done very little real damage. There were some corn plants with leaves that were definitely frozen, but they’ve recovered nicely despite the cool temperatures. Even the flowers on the apple trees at the ranch escaped relatively unscathed. Strong winds over the weekend tried to dislodge the petals but the trees weren’t that far into flowering at the ranch for it to have much impact. The pear trees were nearly done flowering when the wind hit so it did little to change that. It would be great to have pears again in the late summer. Getting a taste two years ago left us wanting more. The radishes planted the day before Easter at the ranch were untouched by the frost. They’re showing signs of good bulb development. Not that the store bought ones from Wagner’s haven’t been good. There’s just something about raising your own.
More birds have moved or through at the ranch since last week. The first hummingbird appeared on the 14th as did the orchard orioles, male and female. Lincoln’s sparrows were new arrivals on the 16th. The Baltimore oriole numbers have swelled with up to a half dozen brightly colored males along with their female counterparts. As a result they’re burning through grape jelly like candy, emptying the feeder by evening. In the morning the males perch on the patio railing vocally demanding that we get up and give them a refill. Nothing like some noisy, orange and black entitled birds to start your day.
I finally broke the law Monday afternoon and had someone cut my hair. The black market has thrived under this pandemic and hair care has been no exception. Ironic that Ruby, a smooth coated Border Collie with naturally short hair would be allowed to get her haircut by a professional but I as a shepherd desperately needing shearing was not. Lest we forget, this is MN, the state where absolutely nothing is allowed particularly out here where there are mostly rocks and cows. In the morning I’d shaved off the beard that adorned my mug much of the winter. The facial fur that kept me warm through the coldest days was making me sweat when temps got much above 50. Time to part with it. The removal was a cold slap in the face, sorta like those old Skin Bracer ads. “Thanks, I needed that!”
My last haircut was on January 16th, a little over four months ago. It had been fun to reminisce about the good old days when my hair was even longer. The difference was then it was on purpose, not just growing out of control. Time was of the essence however. My mop was becoming too warm even on the cooler days. It felt better and better as the COVID coif gradually came off my melon. Once finished, the glasses restored my vision so I could see the results. I was pleased. I looked more my age again. When I gazed downward, at first I thought there was a dead furry animal lying on the floor. Nope, just a hippie dream.
See you next week…real good then.