The scurs were on the money for Farm and City Days so a good time was had by all. What’s in store for the Waseca County Fair you ask? Starting Wednesday, partly cloudy becoming mostly cloudy with a chance of showers by evening. Highs near 75 and lows around 65. Mostly cloudy on Thursday with a good chance of showers and thunderstorms. Highs 75 – 80 and lows near 70. Partly cloudy Friday with a slight chance of an overnight shower. Highs near 85 and lows of 70. Mostly sunny and warmer for Saturday with another slight chance of an overnight shower. Highs of 90 and lows around 75. Sunday and Monday, mostly sunny and hot with highs of 90 – 95 and lows near 70. Slightly cooler and mostly sunny on Tuesday with highs of 90 and lows near 60. The normal high for July 15th is 84 and the normal low is 61. The scurs will be working at the fair in the mosquito repellent concession stand.
The Full Moon for the month occurs on the 15th and is known by many different names. It goes by the Full Buck Moon as white tail deer bucks antlers are growing and as seen in my recent travels are in the velvet already. Another common name for this moon is the Full Thunder Moon, named for the many thunderstorms which happen during the month. Many of the pioneers also called this the Full Hay Moon as many put up hay for their livestock and the long winter ahead. The Sioux knew this as the Moon When Wild Cherries are Ripe. The Ojibwe commonly called this the Full Raspberry Moon, aptly named as the wild raspberries now are ripe for the picking, if you can outlast the mosquitoes in the process that is.
The deer have been noticed out in the open during the daylight hours. It’s quite possible the bugs are responsible for driving them out into open areas where the breeze helps make it more difficult to land on them. Coyotes are on the move and have been heard during the evening hours. One has to wonder if the insects aren’t partially to blame. That is the one bright side about the onset of winter: Knowing there are five or six months where the bugs won’t bite.
We just thought the crops grew last week. Wow! Corn is over 6’ tall in areas and about 7 – 10 days from tasseling in most area fields. Soybeans have gotten through the ugly stage and are starting to look like a crop rather than an afterthought. Most soybeans are in full bloom and wouldn’t be surprised to see some of the earliest planted fields start to set a few pods. You just knew we couldn’t get by another year without the mention of soybean aphids. Yes, they were found last week in several area fields and while the numbers were extremely low, they have made their presence known.
There appears to be a bountiful supply of berries on tap for the birds this season. Here at the ranch one doesn’t have to look very far to see plentiful nannyberries, dogwood, crabapples, chokeberries, American cranberry and honeysuckle. In addition the elderberries have been in full bloom this past week. It was comical a year ago while up on the roof talking to an insurance adjustor. He commented that we must have a lot of berry bushes nearby. “How do you know that?” I asked. He laughed and pointed out all the purple stains on the shingles, courtesy of our feathered friends.
Speaking of our feathered friends, the young continue to show up at the feeders. It was mentioned last week marked the start of the young Baltimore orioles coming to the feeders and now this week the young orchard orioles are showing up. Apparently they were nesting all along in our hard maple tree where the leaves are so dense there was no way to tell what was nesting in there. The young look a lot like the female at this point, greenish in color but one can tell by their shorter beaks and bumbling nature around the feeders they’re not experienced, yet. Hummingbird numbers have been steady all summer and they clean out their nectar feeder about once a week. They also dip into the oriole feeder of course so it’s hard to say exactly how much they’re consuming. One of the most gratifying sights this past week came from the kindly neighbors pasture. Driving up to check the sheep pastured there, one could see there were several birds perched on the barbed wire fence. Getting closer it was easy to determine these were bluebirds, seven to be exact and quite possibly some of them the fledglings from their favorite nesting box. They scattered to the shelter of the oak trees, their understated song following them as they went.
Decided to go to the Farm and City Days parade for a few hours after another grueling weekend of fun and games. It was just as good as it ever was. There was the grand marshal, the local marching band, the antique autos, various floats and displays by several civic organizations as well as numerous princesses from many a local contest. Fire trucks and every type of farm implement imaginable were all tossing candy to the young and young at heart. The thing I still look for every year though is the old tractors, many of which I had the pleasure of driving at one time or another. In particular, I was hoping that the local Minneapolis Moline collector would make yet one more parade. I was not to be disappointed. Looking over the top of some of the displays, I could see LW leading his entourage on the old gray Twin City Minnie Mo he’s so faithfully driven every year. Not that I was ever a big Minneapolis fan, but they were unique and played an important role in the development of the farm tractor here in the U.S. There’s still something about seeing and hearing a well restored old tractor. It brings back memories to this old farm boy, as I’m sure it does to many who grew up driving what some may call “junk.” Just remember, one man’s junk is another man’s toy. And best of all in the case of an old tractor, you don’t have to clean up after it in the parade.
See you next week…real good then.