Auntie Mar Mar

After another stellar weekend, the scurs turned the Weather Eye loose to see what’s in store for this week. Can we squeeze one more nice weekend out of November or are we out of luck? Starting on Thursday, partly sunny with highs in the mid-30’s and lows in the low 20’s. Partly sunny on Friday with highs in the low 30’s and lows in the low 20’s. Partly sunny on Saturday with highs in the low 30’s and lows in the mid-20’s. Sunday, mostly cloudy with highs in the upper 30’s and lows in the mid-20’s. Mostly cloudy Monday with highs in the low 30’s and lows in the upper 20’s. Tuesday, mostly sunny with highs in the upper 30’s with lows in the upper 20’s. Mostly sunny on Wednesday with highs in the upper 30’s and lows in the low 20’s. Our loss of daylight slows to under two minutes per day on November 21st.  The normal high for November 21st is 38 and the normal low is 22. A sneak peek at Thanksgiving Day: Cloudy with possible flurries. Highs in the upper 20’s with lows in the upper teens. The scurs suspect we’ve turned the corner on fall and are descending into the depths of winter. They may well be right.

 

It certainly appears that most field operations will be done as a result of the earlier week rain. Still, most were able to accomplish much of what needed to be done before freeze up, including anhydrous application, broadcasting fertilizer and primary tillage. The nice weekend was just what the doctor ordered. Soil conditions, while not perfect perhaps, became acceptable and allowed the final touches to be put on the growing season. Sure, there was some mud on the road here and there, but nothing too exciting for the most part. It takes a while this time of year for the ground to dry out as our daylight continues to dwindle and our temperatures do the same. As dry as it was a month ago, who would’ve thought that we’d see that? Now if it just decides to play nice and not bury us with snow anytime soon.

 

That’s sort of what we’re hoping at the ranch as well. We were able to take advantage of the nice weekend weather. Saturday the cannas were dug and after washing, allowed to dry a day before loading them in the Gator to dry in the garage. Leaf grinding was on the agenda as well, even though time didn’t allow changing the mower over to mulch. The leaves had sufficiently dried, so they ground up rather nicely, even after dark. It was hard to believe as nice as Sunday was that it would be raining by Monday afternoon. Seeing the clouds to the south that morning, I opted to clean up under the apple trees. Unfortunately, I was only able to complete the task on two out of the three trees needing it before the rain started. Also performed some surgery on them to try to get some of the broken limbs and branches taken care of. Upon looking at them afterwards, it appeared they might not be as bad off as I feared.

 

The confuser woes continue, although the keyboard issues are sporadic and inconsistent. Rather than just getting one character per key tap, there are occasionally several when hitting keys on the top line of letter keys. That or nothing happens when touching them for several attempts. It’s lost the element of surprise and when it decides that it’s done with its little tantrum, we can continue back to work on it. Fortunately, my computer guru has ordered another keyboard for it. I’d never thought about replacing a keyboard on a laptop before, but thinking about it, am pretty sure someone has spilled a drink on one. That would necessitate the replacement in that case. It isn’t the case here as I’ve never spilled anything liquid on it. I still suspect Corgi hair may be the culprit.

 

I’d thought perhaps the cruising season was over after cleaning it up from the car club fall cruise. There was one cruise I’d wanted to make, but too many obstacles got in the way, including the alien that plagued me for much of October. Finally, last week I contacted Auntie Mar Mar to see if we could pull it off. It might be the last chance given the forecast for the season. We had talked for a few years about taking her friend for a ride someday. Her friend turned out to be someone I’d learned about through the years. Lupe Gasca is a decorated WWII vet, having fought in the Battle of Tarawa. He’s 102 years old, lives on his own and makes short drives in town yet. When Mar Mar said in her text, “Would Sunday work?” I said we’ll make it work. I was a little nervous that maybe he wouldn’t want to go. Feedback from his daughter Jacque was that he was excited about going for a ride.

 

I had the car ready to go, so I picked up Mar Mar and motored to Lupe’s. The weather was absolutely glorious for a November afternoon. Since it was a little cool, I’d turned the heat valve on, so the heater core under the passenger side front seat would provide some warmth. We met up with his daughter Jacque, and after Lupe examined the car, we proceeded to stuff her and Mar Mar in the back seat. Not an easy feat for anyone over the age of 30 as the Silver Hawk is a coupe. Lupe was able to get in the front seat under his own power using his cane. We took off on our adventure with no particular plan, just driving wherever we decided to go. Lupe reminisced as we cruised through over the bergs and through dales, including Clarks Grove, Hollandale, Blooming Prairie, Ellendale and the edge of New Richland. We saw America in particular South Central MN farm country. Lupe recalled his working in the vegetable fields by Hollandale, some of the Studebakers he remembered and places he hadn’t seen for a long time such as St. Olaf Lake.

 

The afternoon flew by in no time flat and before we knew it, we were back in Albert Lea. After Lupe got out, we pried Mar Mar and Jacque out of the back seat. Lupe was an absolute treasure to talk to and his memories brought back several of my own as he was from the same generation my parents were from. No one talks about threshing anymore because other than for exhibitions or the Amish, few are alive who have done it, but Lupe had. I wished the afternoon could’ve gone on for many more hours, but you have to save some for seed. We were bumping up against Lupe’s nap time and there were lots of things to do at home. I was just glad we had been able to pull this off after intending to do it for too long. Could’ve made excuses about all we had to do but know personally, I would’ve kicked myself if I’d missed out on this once in a lifetime opportunity. And I got cookies from Mar Mar out of the deal. What doncha like about that?

 

In Mrs. Cheviot’s absence, Poppy has been my constant companion. We’ve played a lot of ball, chased a lot of squirrels, eaten a bunch of popcorn and even taken a nap or two. OK maybe three. We’ve also prepared several meals and I’m under constant supervision. Poppy knows that I’m a klutz and at any given second, something could hit the floor, sometimes on purpose. I come by that honestly. My Mom was notorious for feeding dogs over the years with morsels as she prepared meals. Poppy does something that isn’t unique to dogs we’ve owned. She knows enough English that when the word “crumbs” is uttered, it’s game on. Sometimes all it takes is rattling the wrapper on a frozen pizza. Many of our dogs over the years have come to identify that as the universal signal that pieces of grated cheese are about to hit the floor. She follows the tradition of a long line of crumb seeking missiles.

See you next week…real good then.