The scurs missed the Saturday flurries but by Sunday no one knew they were here anyway. Will our snowfall fortunes change soon? Starting Wednesday, partly cloudy with highs near 25 and lows of 5 below to zero. Thursday, partly cloudy with a chance of evening snow. Highs of only 5 - 10 and lows from zero to 5 above. Partly cloudy on Friday with a chance of snow. Highs of 10 - 15 and lows near 0. Partly cloudy for Saturday with highs around 25 and lows of 20. Sunday, partly cloudy with a chance of a rain/snow mix. Highs of 35 and lows of 20. Mostly cloudy Monday with a chance of a rain/snow mix. Highs around 30 and lows near 15. Tuesday, partly cloudy and cooler with a slight chance of snow and rain. Highs of 25 and lows around 20. The normal high for January 21st is 22 and the normal low is 4. With the sun setting after 5 p.m. since the 15th, the scurs will be staying outside a little later each night to scrape up enough snow to build the prefect snowman. Maybe by month’s end.
Precipitation continues to be sparse while our temperatures continue to be above normal and moderate for this time of year. It’s always amusing to hear the blow combs and drama queens forecasting the weather from the Twin Cities talk about the “bitter cold” and gloss over the fact the cold snap will only last a couple days. Sensationalism sells so that’s why of course but after you’ve lived here long enough, you know when to count your blessings. No sub-zero cold in the Twin Cities? We had three nights below zero in early December here and we’re 80 miles to the south. Think of it this way: When we have highs in the single digits, that’s a shoe size not a temperature.
Measuring snowfall has been a challenge as of late. Without being around to constantly monitor it, the stuff tends to blow away within a few hours of falling. Not that what has fallen lately amounts to a lot of precipitation it’s just nice to be as accurate as possible. At this point every drop may count, with may being the operative word. At a recent presentation by Jeff Vetsch at the SROC, some interesting data to illustrate several points was presented. One, when fall moisture has been short as it was last year, we typically do catch up or it averages out. By the same token, when we have large amounts of stored soil moisture in the fall, the tendency is for it to either maintain roughly that amount or to dry out slightly. Most importantly, there is no consistent correlation between low fall soil moisture and corn yield the following year. Yes, it’s nice to have some gas in the tank going into the growing season but it’s no guarantee that above trendline yields will result. The growing season itself has more to do with that than stored fall soil moisture.
Once again I have reassumed my position as the largest producer of snot and phlegm in the free world. Yes the alien finally struck and after being coughed and sneezed on for the past three weeks I was actually amazed it didn’t happen sooner. I honest to God don’t know how schoolteachers survive until retirement. This one has been unique for the simple fact that it has affected my sleep patterns so severely. Over-the-counter drugs are much improved however. One can almost feel semi-human again, at least until they wear off. So far it hasn’t kept me from doing chores, running errands or being the physical plant manager around the house. There are always light bulbs to replace, fixtures to clean, water and furnace filters to change, feed to procure and trips to get replacement parts for all the stuff that wears out or breaks around the ranch.
One of my recent replacement purchases was a new handle for a pitchfork I’d broken several years ago. A new one would probably cost about the same as buying a replacement handle and getting it repaired. Rather than throw it away and buy a new one though, I’d kept it. It had some sentimental value as it was one my late father-in-law had given us for Christmas. Besides, the vision of the tang or tines from a rusty old pitchfork stuck in several implement tires over the years was planted in my brain. It was nowhere near as worn out as those were.
As anyone who is familiar with the inner workings of a pitchfork knows, there are some you like better than others. This model is a 4-tine manure fork that always allowed for good leverage on the sheets of sheep manure pack, possibly how it got snapped in the first place. Looking for handles at the store where you go to the bathroom in the big orange silo, there were several to choose from. I purchased what appeared to be the right one and took my prized possession to the proprietor of Dad’s Good Stuff the next day for repairs. I walked in the front door and the old wood floor creaked as I walked towards the back of the store. I spied the owner as well as the former CEO of the A & P Corporation. My lucky day: two characters in a building with character! I quizzed the latter to see if he could identify the item I held in my hand. Scratching his ear, he denied ever seeing one or knowing what it was used for. Oddly enough I believed him.
After presenting my “special project” to Double W he told me he might not get to it today and that was fine by me. There was another pitchfork we were using elsewhere in the barn; it’s just nice to have another one handy for peeling hay off the round bales we feed to the brood ewes outside. We’re very fortunate to have someone in town who still fixes things like windows, hammer handles and even fork handles. And once I discovered he’d done his tutelage under Tommy Bruzek, I was certain this was the right man for the job. About mid-afternoon I got a phone call saying the item was repaired and I could pick it up. The bill of sale was too cheap, worth at least twice the price especially when all the wisdom and knowledge gleaned was factored in. I had a nice visit, paid the bill, then took the fork and left thinking to myself, look what I would’ve missed out on if I’d thrown it away. With people nowadays looking to push the easy button and in a hurry to get nowhere, this is one of the parts of small town living that some can’t comprehend. What’s more, most of them will never appreciate the concept behind the proper placement of a finely tuned pitchfork.
See you next week…real good then.