The scurs and the ’74 Gremlin Weather Eye found more warmth coming out of the weekend, signaling the official start of the mud season. Will Monday’s snowstorm put it on temporary hold or will it be a long drawn out affair? Starting Wednesday, mostly sunny with highs in the mid-20’s and lows in the mid-teens. Thursday, mostly sunny with highs in the mid-20’s and lows in the mid-teens. Mostly cloudy on Friday with highs in the low 30’s and lows in the low 20’s. Saturday, partly sunny with a moderate chance of evening snow. Highs in the mid-30’s with lows in the low 20’s. Partly sunny for Sunday with highs in the mid-30’s and lows in the low 20’s. Monday, partly sunny with highs in the mid-30’s and lows in the upper teens. Mostly sunny Tuesday with highs in the upper 30’s and lows in the upper teens. The sun will rise at 6:35 a.m. CST on the 10th, and then will rise at 7:30 CDT on the 13th, back to the same as it rose back on February 2nd. The normal high for March 10th is 37 and the normal low is 20. The scurs will be changing their clocks ahead an hour at 2 a.m. Sunday morning in celebration of that quintessential annual episode of timekeeping social injustice known as Daylight Wasting Time.
Yes, once again people can be later than normal everywhere, fall asleep at work, have an increase in heart attacks and automobile accidents along with affecting other long-term physical and mental maladies. Even though Ben Franklin is credited with the idea for this stinker, even he would have to admit it’s an idea which has long since outlived its usefulness. When a law runs contrary to the health of its citizens, it should cease to be a law. Ben also said that. I found it on the Internet so it must be true. A good start would be to move the change back to April, the way it was for years, with the mechanism in place to abolish it altogether within a five-year timeframe. Then chalk it up to another poorly conceived notion of governmental interference and toss it on the heap.
Snow melt occurred at a rapid pace over the weekend with much of our snow cover ending up in area wetlands, potholes, rivers and streams. Frost depth at last check was at 16” in the SROC March 5th measurement. It had become shallower at the ranch as suddenly on Monday I could close the walk in door on the pole barn. Not only that, the yard suddenly became prone to some pretty severe rutting in the top 6” or so when backing the tractor in. Sunday morning already it was prudent to use the Gator rather than backing the truck and trailer around when unloading some bales of straw. Then Monday after we received a big, sloppy, wet kiss from Mother Nature it was a major challenge not to rip the yard up.
It was a week when more geese were seen moving about as we neared the weekend. The assumption at first was they were local geese from either Waseca or Owatonna. Given the numbers however they had to be coming from points south farther. Saturday morning the 3rd saw the arrival of the first robins at the ranch, the first grackles on the 4th and a flock of red-winged blackbirds heading south on the morning of the 5th. The storm arrived after lunch and during its peak a flock of geese was high tailing it to the south. A wise decision on their part at least for now. The blackbirds on the other hand are stubbornly clinging to their seeds and crabapples.
Lambing season is coming to a close and not a minute too soon. The last week saw an increase in bottle lambs and a decrease in Mr. Cheviot’s patience. Animals that won’t or can’t care for their lambs have no business on a farm regardless of how good their offspring are. If they are trouble for you then no one else wants them either. I always say that I only want to lamb about enough ewes until I get just about sick of it then be done. Plan on seeing numbers dwindle this next season with anything that is suspect in the milking department or aged going down the road. We’re not getting any younger and feeding bottle lambs isn’t helping.
I received a summons for jury duty in Waseca County a few years back. I live in Steele County even though my address is New Richland, which is in Waseca County. I was also aware of people living in Waseca County with an Ellendale address which is in Steele County. There was a number to call so rather than waste time fooling around filling the form out, I went on the offensive. When I reached the individual in charge I received the explanation that they just picked addresses out of the phone book at that time. Since I had a New Richland address, that’s why I received a summons. Happens all the time, no big deal, not to worry I was told. Hmmm…seemed a rather flippant attitude towards someone’s spare time I thought but I let it go.
Fast forward. Seems that the Little Dubya and Mrs. Cheviot both received a summons last week to appear for jury duty in Waseca County from the Waseca County District Court Jury Summons Processing Center in Hallock, MN. I guess Hallock must be somewhere in far northern Waseca County (j/k) Doesn’t matter; neither Mrs. Cheviot nor the Little Dubya reside in Waseca County Both live in Steele County, vote in Steele County, and pay property taxes in Steele County. Both addresses are New Richland, although we’ve established that one can’t assume you’re a resident of a county based purely on an address. In the explanation of their selection criteria for potential jurors it reads: “Your name was randomly selected from a list of licensed drivers, state identification card holders and registered voters residing in your county.” It further commands one to complete and return the jury questionnaire even if you are not a resident of this county.
Really? These two are residing in Waseca County? Fill it out anyway? Let me see if I have this straight: First it says in the letter that your selection criteria includes registered voters in Waseca County. Obviously that information either wasn’t checked or the information was in error. If it was correct and actually checked a letter never would’ve been sent in the first place. It also makes me somewhat nervous living in a state that loves to blow its own horn about its voting and the voting process. For all I know, based on this maybe our ballots wound up stuck in the trunk of somebody’s car and were hauled to Waseca County! As far as requiring a citizen who is a nonresident of the county to fill out the entire qualification questionnaire: being part Vulcan, it would seem logical that checking the box stating that you are not a resident and sending the form back should suffice. The perception then becomes that some bureaucrats are simply too lazy to do their homework and instead wants us to do it for them. My suggestion is if they really want to get to the bottom of this they should probably consult some Russian spies. I’m fairly confident they already know this stuff.
See you next week…real good then.