The rain befuddled the scurs and their Weather Eye last week. Otherwise, it was generally some beautiful early fall weather. Are we edging closer to October, or can we avoid Jack Frost one more week? Starting Wednesday, cloudy with a good chance of rain. Highs in the upper 40’s with lows in the upper 30’s. Thursday, mostly cloudy with a slight chance of rain. Highs in the upper 50’s with lows in the mid-40’s. Mostly cloudy Friday with a good chance of evening showers & thunderstorms. Highs in the mid-60’s with lows in the low 50’s. Saturday, mostly cloudy with a good chance of forenoon showers. Highs in the upper 60’s with lows in the low 50’s. Mostly sunny on Sunday with highs in the mid-60’s with lows in the mid-40’s. Monday, partly sunny with a modest chance of evening rain. Highs in the low 70’s with lows in the low 50’s. Partly sunny for Tuesday with a slight chance of rain. Highs in the mid-70’s with lows in the low 50’s. On September 11th, the sun will set at 7:30 p.m. CDT. The normal high for September 11th is 75 and the normal low is 52. Fresh off a restful Labor Day, the scurs are ready to tear into it. After a nap, of course.
Crop progress was slowed somewhat due to the cooler conditions of this past week. Most corn was at or near half milk line, with some earlier planted early maturity hybrids barely showing any milk line left. Preliminary estimates are this is a great corn crop, but may have lost some of its potential when the winds blew pre-tassel the second week in July. Soybeans are turning, in some cases rapidly, and in others where the maturities are later, some expression of a color other than green is starting to be noticeable. The soybeans may be the sleeper in all this. They’ve quietly filled their pods and more than one individual has expressed excitement once they’ve seen just how many pods the plants set. Conditions for them to finish have been ideal. Plenty of warmth and rainfall. Just like the doctor ordered.
It appears the fall bird migration is underway at the ranch. It appears the last of our local barn swallows may have flown the coop. On Saturday there was a large number of swallows on the electric lines across from the dooryard. Am guessing they convinced them to come along. The orioles are faltering, although after seeing none Monday a.m., there was one on the jelly feeder just before sunset. Will probably keep a tablespoonful in the feeder dishes in case there are more stragglers this week. If nothing else, the blue jays will eventually clean it up. The hummingbirds have been just nuts, especially on the warmer days. I was convinced a couple of them were going to take my head clean off when I looked up and saw them flying right at me. I ducked, but didn’t need to. As adept as they are at maneuvering, they would’ve missed me.
The recent rains have certainly kept the lawns green and lush, including the crabgrass. The fall bluegrass regrowth after never really going dormant in the first place has made for more lawn mowing ad nauseum. It takes a five-hour commitment to mow the lawn at the ranch. It only happens once a week therefore whether it needs it or not. I can honestly say it needed it all summer. Fortunately, it looks like Howard and Whitey have made another mowing season. Maybe next year it’ll be time to see what’s available on the market to possibly speed up the process. I could see many more hours being spent on endeavors other than sitting on a mower seat trying to keep ahead of an out-of-control lawn.
Endeavors such as more road trips such as I took Monday with the Studebaker. With Mrs. Cheviot working, I once again forced to fly solo on a longer cruise. Driving older automobiles, one realizes very quickly how far the technology has advanced. The automatic transmission is something we take for granted. In the hills along the Mississippi, the amount of shifting and listening to the overdrive takes some anticipation and effort. In overdrive descending steep downgrades the car will freewheel, not unlike pulling the TA back on a Farmall. Brakes are a plus. The primary thing with any of these cruises is to make it home in one piece. Or as the former pygmy goat farmer used to put it when we’d make a safe landing in his small plane, cheated death once again.
The evening skies this September have been interesting to look at so far. Mars will become more evident as we move through September, rising in the east about two hours after sunset, but less than an hour by early October. At that point it will be brighter than Jupiter. Look for Venus below the crescent moon on the 13th and to the right of it on the 14th. The Big Dipper is entrenched in its fall position, said to be holding water. It remains that way until spring when it is said to be “pouring it out.” I’m pretty sure some to our south are probably hoping that will be the case if they don’t see a good fall moisture recharge. Thanks to Dale Niefeldt, past president of the Steele Co. Astronomical Society and Vista’s Noted Swedish Astronomer, without whom all this sage wisdom and knowledge would not be possible.
And I’d be remiss if I didn’t make mention of the 65th anniversary of Gunsmoke on TV. It first aired back on September 10th, 1955 and ran until March 31st, 1975. Many a young lad probably first watched it as I did, listening to Dad’s pocket watch in the breast pocket of his bib overalls. When Gunsmoke started out, it was a half-hour program. In 1961, it changed to an hour-long format. The list of notable actors to guest star on the program was seemingly endless, including Buddy Ebsen, Lee Van Cleef, James Whitmore, Deforest Kelly, Leonard Nimoy, Strother Martin, Ed Asner, Katherine Ross, Mariette Hartley and Melissa Gilbert to name a few. They all went on to major success on other television programs or the silver screen. Ruby and I still make an effort to watch Gunsmoke daily, although the amount of “watching” is debatable. I think of it this way: Gunsmoke has been putting men and small boys to sleep for generations. Long may it run.
See you next week...real good then.