The scurs were convinced that the Weather Eye would get back on track and cool it down, which they did. Unfortunately someone left the sprinkler on. Are we about to dry out for a spell or is the Weather Eye stuck on swamp mode? Starting Wednesday, partly sunny with highs in the upper 70’s and lows in the mid-60’s. Thursday, partly sunny and warmer with highs in the mid-80’s with lows in the low 70’s. Mostly sunny on Friday becoming cloudy with a slight chance of showers and thunderstorms. Highs in the low 90’s with lows in the low 70’s. Saturday, partly sunny with an increasing chance of rain by evening. Highs in the mid-80’s and lows in the upper 60’s. Partly sunny for Sunday with a modest chance of a shower or thunderstorm. Highs in the low 80’s with lows in the low 60’s. Monday, partly sunny with a slight chance of showers and thunderstorms. Highs in the low 80’s with lows in the mid-60’s. Partly cloudy Tuesday with possible a.m. showers and thunderstorms. Highs in the upper 80’s with lows in the upper 60’s. The normal high for June 28th is 82 and the normal low is 61. The scurs will be seeking out their illegal fireworks dealer to celebrate the end of this anti-fireworks governor’s reign of terror.
The Full Moon is upon us once again and as a human I’m able to make mistakes with the best of them. Somehow I must’ve wanted to jump a month ahead as I was hungry for strawberries and claimed the Full Moon in May in their honor. Actually that was the Full Flower Moon but aside from soybean blossoms there were few for me to enjoy. Anyway, this is the Full Strawberry Moon even though the berries although the strawberries are on the tail end of their season by late June. Both the Ojibwe and Sioux were fond of strawberries and named the Moon for the month for them. At the ranch, this is known as the Moon of Moldy Bread as it becomes difficult to find piece without mold on it for strawberry jam.
The past week led to some rapid crop growth at least when it wasn’t raining. It’s become a moral victory when you don’t get over an inch of precip at a time. At the ranch from June 16th – 22nd we received 5.26” of rain and in town during the same timeframe, rainfall measured 3.02”. For the month at the ranch rainfall as of this writing was 7.83” and in town, 5.73”. At the SROC in Waseca, the monthly average for June is 4.69”. It has been wetter than normal and as a result hampered herbicide applications as many fields had ponded water and would not support the weight of a sprayer, loaded or not. And you know it’s a bad sign when you avoid cutting hay because you’re afraid you might get stuck.
The recent rash of road construction began in earnest as crews began ground the shoulders of Hwy 13 by New Richland. More barricades went up and it will be tougher to get into town or out for that matter. The Lake Road construction should begin in early July so it will be interesting to see what that does to crosstown traffic does in suburban Bugtussle. With bridge repair and culvert replacement on Hwy 13 there was a noticeable increase in traffic past the ranch. Some mornings it made one wish there was a sound barrier to at least muffle the noise in the early morning hours. Something about living behind a wall became suddenly fitting last week.
The People’s Republic of Steele Co struck again! Last week I needed to get the license tabs for Mrs. Cheviot’s car so went to the license bureau to purchase them. Oddly enough there is a discrepancy on the plates and the renewal date on the renewal form. The plate says July and the form says June. Go figure. Not so strange was Steele Co. sticking their hand out for more money. When asked if I still lived at the current address I said yes. When asked if it was Waseca Co. I should’ve said yes but alas I was honest and said Steele. “Oh, well then I’ll need to add an additional $10 to the wheelage tax because Steele Co. has a higher rate” said the clerk. What the…?
Gee, maybe I should bill Steele Co. for the countless hours spent picking up the numerous large hunks of asphalt their contractor tossed in the ditch when they redid our road. Hitting one of those babies with the lawnmower could’ve wrecked the blades or injured someone. It still gripes me too that in Waseca Co., burning permits are mailed to rural residents annually whereas in Steele Co. we have to drive to the law enforcement office in Owatonna to obtain one or pay online to get one from the DNR’s trash fire police. It was also a nice touch when our then new barn blew away back in ’96. Steele Co. decided they needed $360 for a new building permit after the original permit had cost us $50 just a few years earlier. More bureaucratic fun and games behind that story too but I digress. And, I still haven’t forgiven Steele Co. for digging up my phone line and setting off a chain reaction of events, culminating in my neighbor running the wire through his haybine after it laid on top of the ground over a year. I got even with the phone company and eventually pulled the plug on them. Getting to the point where I’d like to do that with Steele Co. Maybe after billing them for my pain and suffering I can secede. That or move to Waseca Co. and live in a van down by the river.
Local collector automobile enthusiasts made our pilgrimage to the mecca of automobile shows this last weekend, the Back to the 50’s at the State Fairgrounds in St. Paul. Typically there are around 12,000 cars, all 1964 or older. The show is something anyone who has an interest in automobile’s past should experience at least once. Along with the show itself, the drive is an adventure. Those of us in the local car club attended with JT driving a ’64 Tempest, Vista’s noted Swedish astronomer in his’58 Fairlane and moi behind the wheel of the ’59 Silver Hawk. Part of the fun is seeing people’s reactions to the old cars coming and going. Out group was no exception. We got lots of appreciative attention from other drivers as they passed us on the freeway. On the way home we stopped at A&W in Faribault for root beer floats. Afterwards we gathered by the cars to leave when an SUV rolled slowly by. A slightly hunched over elderly woman in the passenger seat looked at us and smiled, then gave us her sign of approval with a big thumbs up! We all got a charge out of that. Gotta love older women and old cars. Never know just what to expect from either one.
See you next week…real good then