Things were wet and wild for the scurs as they discovered a leak in a hose. The Weather Eye had little chance. Will their forecast be drier or will we continue on a fall recharge pattern? Starting Wednesday, partly sunny with a good chance of rain. Highs in the low 80’s with lows in the low 60’s. Thursday, mostly sunny with a modest chance of daytime showers and thunderstorms. Highs in the upper 70’s with lows in the mid-60’s. Mostly sunny on Friday with increasing clouds and chances of a shower or thunderstorms. Highs in the upper 70’s and lows in the upper 60’s. Saturday, partly sunny with a good chance of showers and thunderstorms. Highs in the mid-70’s with lows in the upper 50’s. Mostly sunny on Sunday with a slight chance of a shower or thunderstorm. Highs in the upper 60’s with lows in the low 50’s. Monday, sunny with a slight chance of a shower. Highs in the low 70’s with lows in the mid-50’s. Partly sunny for Tuesday becoming cloudy with a decent chance for a shower or thunderstorm. Highs in the low 70’s and lows in the mid-50’s. The sun will rise at 7 a.m. CDT on the 21st and the autumnal equinox will occur on the 23rd. The scurs will be tuning up the leaf blower. One can never be too prepared.
Crops responded rapidly to last week’s rain and the warm temperatures that followed. While the temperatures were what everyone was asking for, they come at a potential price. Pushing the corn hard on the tail end of the season tends to cause cannibalism of the stalk. If there are stalk rot organisms afoot the result can be disastrous, especially in light of strong winds such as we had last year about this time. Checking corn this past week, some of the early planted earlier maturity hybrids had a milk line 3/4 of the way down the kernel. The 105-day hybrids were closer to 1/2 milk line. On the soybean side, having the moisture was fine, but a lot of those small pods up top on the plants are just a memory at this point. Some might say those pods really wouldn’t matter and they’re right if the soybeans compensate in bean size. The odds of that happening are decreased, however, when the soybean plant is pushed as it has been recently. At least they have dropped a lot of their leaves and should be ready to go towards months end.
The leaves on the trees have been hinting at an earlier fall than one might’ve imagined given the late start to spring. I thought perhaps one of my herbicide applications in the vicinity of the autumn blaze maple might’ve caused some premature color. Looking around at some others it appears they either had herbicide issues or they’re turning early too. The nannyberries in the yard are turning bluish black after being scarlet for a few weeks. The Haralson apples are closer to being made into pies soon and the Honeycrisp tree has apples ready to eat. The Fireside and SnowSweet trees will be a little longer, with mid-October being their target date.
The birds have been hinting as well that fall is in the air. The ranch’s last Baltimore oriole was seen at the jelly feeder on the 12th. I placed a dollop of jelly in both cups and aside from a blue jay or two, it’s gone untouched. Hummingbirds on the other hand have ramped it up, feasting on canna, salvia and morning glory nectar when they’re not at the nectar feeders. The four o’clocks have largely finished blooming, although it doesn’t stop the hummers from picking through the foliage looking for the odd blossom still on the plants. The fall birds are more evident as well. Blue jays are calling as are the chickadees. Nuthatches are coming to the sunflower feeders with greater frequency. The squirrels are also transporting acorns from across the driveway to points unknown in the lawn. The rate they’re going, it could become an oak woods in a matter of a few decades if we don’t keep mowing the seedlings off.
Lawn mowing has continued to be a necessary evil. Give the lawn some rain plus continued warm weather and it’s back to growing about like it did in July. It appears that Howard and Whitey will survive another mowing season. They still do a decent job of mowing, but it would be nice to get something a little more nimble around the numerous trees and shrubs scattered throughout the yard. While the ditch still remains a challenge to mow, the days of mowing it may be coming to a close. I’m not getting any younger and there are probably better things to do with my time than see how long it takes before I roll it over on the slope.
Ruby doesn’t seem to care. She enjoys following the mower some of the time, in particular Whitey. When mowing the ditch, she’s right behind me when I glance over my shoulder. For some reason she must’ve been zinged with a stick or twig from under Howard’s deck once upon a time so she generally steers clear, watching from afar. That’s OK. She’s put on a lot of miles following lawnmowers the past nine years. She still logs enough time that her white socks are green when we come in the house. Hate to think how green her socks would be if we fertilized the lawn. Might make a good advertisement for liquid Tide!
Have battled yet another alien to a draw. This most recent cold has been a persistent cuss, causing sudden coughing fits along with bouts of sneezing and nose blowing. At first I thought it was something I’d run across in some corn fields. Lord knows there are plenty of molds and dust to trigger allergic reactions. Later I determined it was more likely just the State Fair Crud that Mrs. Cheviot had brought home with her. The general malaise has led to feeling constantly tired as well so sleeping whenever there’s a chance to do so seems to help. Hydration has also been important, although I always have to chuckle about that. It’s a vicious cycle once you get to a certain age. Yes, hydration and sleep are important, yet the two seem to be mutually exclusive all the time.
See you next week…real good then.