Musings

We’re moving past mid-summer, and I see post-flowering plant-ness (plantations? haha).

Here, cherry tomatoes and canna lily examples.

Posted at 6:59 PM | Comments Off on Beyond flowering

We got a bit of a temp/humidity reprieve during post-Fred, although I found it darned oppressive outside this morning. Cooler, yet the air seemed like it sat heavy on my skin.

All in a day’s…outdoor exercise.

Posted at 9:32 PM | Comments Off on Charging along

Yesterday we lived through thin outer bands of the Fred Storm. Today, we had a bit more substantive bands. I understand that by 6am, we’ll be getting serious rain from the center of the storm, to total perhaps as much as 4 inches before tomorrow is up.

We are preparing for power outage and more. I understand the power has been out in at least parts of Ann Arbor since last Thurs/Fri?…in any case, even in a US city, the power can be out for days. So, I’ve been preparing my basket of necessaries (ID, keys, cash, meds, nutrition bars, you know: the usual) to stash bedside. In case.

Posted at 10:05 PM | Comments Off on Fred’s fangs

We continued our haze survey in Tennessee. Have I made it clear (haha) that the haze is smoke from the northwestern US and Cali fires?

And into Georgia. Haze continues, with clouds. And humidity. The normal humidity, seems to me. But heavy traffic on I-75, including many semis…we mused that this suggests a busy national economy. Mere speculation, however.

Posted at 9:13 PM | Comments Off on Haze survey continues

Our morning air began with haze and pre-sun-fog, then the sun burned off the fog and we were left with…

…haze, giving a strange quality to the bridge crossing despite the Great Lakes breezes.

Still hazy into the nothern Lower…my, how green the plants are…it has not been a dry summer. Dry here and there in the spring, but not in the summer. [So far.]

Finally, pretty darned clear in northern Ohio. Good old flat northern Ohio.

And southern Ohio…the red sun is from the haze, and we can see some in the oblique, low-angle rays. Yet, it seems far clearer than in the Upper Peninsula.

Wonder what we’ll see tomorrow as we continue south….

Posted at 8:37 PM | Comments Off on Haze variation

Bright this morning, but hazier as the day went on. I couldn’t tell if it was a “normal” weather pattern or the smoke.

Posted at 9:11 PM | Comments Off on Or both

Rain rain rain…overnight and into the morning. Not a deluge, but enough that the ditches filled in the swamp, and water backed up onto the road in this low spot.

I think this is a trapper bridge, but maybe it’s a fisherperson bridge. In either case, it crosses the opposite ditch at another spot and it’s now almost submerged.

No rain predicted overnight; it’s a good thing. And to think, just the other day I was planning to save the dish water for outdoor plants unless it rained.

Posted at 9:31 PM | Comments Off on Splish splash

Overnight rain. This honeysuckle (probably non-native) is already fruiting.

Another view of the odd skies the smoke is producing. More rain expected after midnight.

Posted at 8:01 PM | Comments Off on Air quality

Last evening, and all yesterday, we had persistent haziness. Seems unlikely it was smog, and I detected no smoke smell, so if it was that, it was from far, far away. So, does that mean it was…suspended moisture?

This morning, the haze remained, but the sun did burn through, although tinted orange by whatever it is in the atmosphere. A persistent semi-cloudiness held on, although it was plenty sunny if you abandoned shadiness.

Too hot today, although we’re expecting a cool-off over the next three days. Fingers crossed the meteorologists and their models are correct.

Posted at 5:42 PM | 1 Comment »

I made squirrel cage in ATL when I caught squirrels stealing my almost-ripe tomatoes. But, in reality, the yard’s too shady for tomatoes to thrive. With a pickup, you can move a screen cube (minus one side) a thousand miles and not sweat it.

Last evening I spotted a black-capped chickadee fluttering around the cube, perhaps somewhat distressed, and then realized another was INside the cube. Oops. I tipped it over and released the trapee, then righted it again. I probably should have shored up the bottom with soil so that can’t happen again. Turns out it is no longer a SQUirrel cage?

Also, while I was listening to the coffee maker wheeze and spit, and waiting for it to finish, I watched a deer stroll by the south side of the cottage, not terribly worried about danger, and perhaps unable to hear the coffee maker.

BTW, the water barrel is full for the first time this summer (I think), proof we received considerable rain a day or two back.

Posted at 8:17 PM | Comments Off on Wildlife notes, limited edition