The scurs coaxed a dandy forecast out of the Weather Eye to produce our first 70-degree highs of the season. Is Old Man Winter ready to throw in the towel or will he snap our behind one more time? Starting Wednesday, sunny with highs in the low 80’s and lows in the mid-50’s. Sunny Thursday with highs in the upper 70’s and lows in the mid-50’s. Mostly sunny on Friday with a good chance of rain by evening. Highs in the low 70’s with lows in the upper 40’s. Saturday, mostly cloudy with a good chance of rain. Highs in the low 50’s with lows in the mid-30’s. Partly sunny Sunday with a fair chance of rain and snow showers. Highs in the mid-40’s with lows in the low 30’s. Monday, mostly sunny with highs in the upper 40’s and lows in the mid-30’s. Sunny on Tuesday with highs in the upper 50’s and lows in the low 40’s. On April 14th, we’re finally back to the same relative sunrise time at 6:33 a.m. that we had the day before we started Daylight Saving Time. Humph! On the 17th, the sun will set at 8 p.m. CDT and we will have 13 hours and 30 minutes of daylight. The normal high for April 17th is 56 and the normal low is 35. The scurs having stashed their Easter candy supply will be pinning their next hopes on a May basket.
Forgot all about the Full Moon for the month being on April 6th in the last edition. Norm happened to call it to my attention, so we’d better make it clear that the period between the Full Moon goes by the Full Pink Moon, so named for the ground phlox that covered the ground under the forest landscape. It has also been known as the Full Egg Moon and the Full Fish Moon for the shad that ran in the rivers and streams of the northeast. Closer to home, the Ojibwe called it the Broken Snowshoe Moon or the Frog Moon. The Sioux, relying on the bison for their sustenance, called it the Moon of Greening Grass. At the ranch, we also like to think it’s the Moon of Greening Lawns and Pastures, but it’s usually the Put Fence Back Up Moon or the Clean Up Debris for Mowing Moon. Lord knows there’s plenty of it this time around.
Finally some fairly positive progress in area field conditions. The glaciers that stubbornly hung on around groves, fence lines, ditches, wood lots, etc., suddenly began to recede more rapidly. With more 70’s in the early week, by press time, we should see some field progress towards corn planting in selected area fields. Not all will be fit as those nagging snowbanks will still keep field borders too wet to be fit in many cases. Still seeing some dark spots Tuesday morning on the way into town. That’s probably for the best as the weather starting Saturday will bring us back to reality. As of Tuesday, the forecast looks like about a half an inch total rainfall. Not a washout, but forecasts can change. Soil temperatures will likely still decline below the magic 50-degree mark and the cold rain likely won’t help matters. Still, there’s nothing wrong with getting the planter out and giving it a shakedown before the planting season gets real. These are not your father’s hybrids.
Indeed there is a lot of debris on our lawn, the result of a long winter, thawed soils, ice storms, wind and tractor operator error. I don’t recall such a combo of dirt, sod, sticks, cones, needles, leaves, and crushed rock on our lawn. And to make matters worse, I’ve been adding to the mess by pruning fruit trees and any face slapping or glasses snatching branches that happen to get in my way. I don’t get too excited if I grind through some dirt or smaller sticks when mowing, but knocking my glasses or hat off is grounds to get the chainsaw out. I need to do that anyway as there is still one large treetop lying on the ground east of the house. Luckily there’s a fairly large brush pile nearby, so it shouldn’t take long. What will take time is finding all the pieces of sod I tore up and determining their origins. I gave up long ago trying to fit the hunks back in exactly the same position they were in when excavated by the bucket. I’m seldom sure where they came from anyway. Just tamp them in good and hope it rains. It’s a farmyard.
There are definitive signs that spring is here at the ranch. I harvested the second batch of pussy willows this past week. I also discovered several new bushes that were in standing water. Shortly afterwards I discovered my chore boots had a serious leak, so punted on picking very many of them. Fortunately the catkins were well behind the main bushes I harvested most of the twigs from. I’ve been trying to start some slips from the most prolific bush closer to the yard where the sheep won’t gnaw them off. It continues to produce and hasn’t run into the insect or disease issues that tend to make pussy willows a relatively short-lived species.
Around the yard and pasture, there are many signs that spring has arrived. The grass, especially on the south facing slope, has greened up nicely. The sheep wasted no time finding it. The crocuses that emerged as the snow left their bed sprung into bloom on Monday. The jonquils on the south side of the house aren’t far behind with their swollen flower buds turning bright yellow. The rhubarb is becoming visible from the sliding glass door. I can’t wait till a piece of rhubarb pie is visible on my plate with some ice cream. The chorus frogs were getting cranked up, although I suspect it’ll be nothing compared to their decibel output following an 80-degree high on Wednesday. Other signs of spring included being bitten by a mosquito Monday night while I was writing. No surer sign of spring than that. Glad Poppy had her heartworm control in place as outdoors was the place to be.
The Studebaker made its maiden voyage for the season Easter Sunday. It was time for a break. I’d hooked the battery charger up the day before with that in mind. When I unhooked it, I ran through the pre-flight checklist. All systems were go, so after a good dusting, I opened the garage door and cranked it over. It usually loses its prime after sitting over winter, but it fired right up on the second try. It must’ve wanted out too. The cruise wasn’t a long one since we had chores to do once we got home. We were starving though, so we went to an establishment in Owatonna. Apparently, I had turned the heater valve to the off position or otherwise we would’ve been roasting. I’d forgotten all about the new exhaust system installed shortly before parking the Silver Hawk last fall. It resonated nicely when dropping it on down into overdrive with the 259-cu. inch Studebaker V8 doing its thing. It’s hard enough to sneak up on people in a car with tail fins on it. The louder exhaust makes it even harder to be stealthy.
See you next week…real good then.