Painted skies

When I awoke this morning it hit me. The wildfires have hit
Iowa. No, our state is not on fire. Nor or people stocking up
on all things needed to make smores. But when something happens
out west it ends up here.

While it makes for interesting days and beautiful sunsets the
smoke from the fires in our more western states has reached us.
And when that happens it causes one to go outside and enjoy.

Here on the east coast of Iowa we don’t worry much about air
quality when these things happen. Much like when severe storms
are in our area we grab a lawn chair and go outside to watch.

Even the critters appear to enjoy the sights.

Then again, this could all be a weather anomaly. Yet my
wandering mind thinks the winds were just favorable to push the
smoke in our general direction. Whatever the reason it gets me
outside even more. It looks like the skies were painted by
a brush in God’s hand.

Enjoy our friday. A day we stock up on pizza and Snicker’s
at Casa Cruiser. Now I need more coffee.
Comments are always welcome.

Fire update

We mentioned the Whetstone and Meyers fires in the past and
things have gotten interesting out there. The two fires are now
one and cover 11,593 acres.

Evacuation notices were issued as this fire keeps raging. Low
humidity, no rainfall, and winds have not helped the fire
fighters. As of 14 hours ago the fire was burning with even more
intensity and expected to get worse today.

The fire is 25 miles SW of Phillipsburg, Montana. To see the
last incident report on this fire, go here.

Comments are always welcome.

Ramblings of a confused oldfart

Yesterday for supper I grilled ribs to have with fresh corn on
the cob and potato salad. While at the store the idea of having
ribs for dinner sounded great yet when the time came I realized
the heat index was hovering around 110 degrees.

Everything turned out great and I would have gotten pictures
of the ribs and corn but was drooling so bad I couldn’t. It’s
hard to concentrate with drool running down the front of your
t-shirt.

Later the severe weather warnings started popping up on the
TV every few minutes and it made it hard to watch reruns of
Andy Griffith. We got hit with thunderstorms twice, the latest
is still going on. And that got me thinking…

How is it all these TV stations can claim they report the news
when most of time they’re shipping the bull, commenting on some
celebrity’s birthday, hosting a concert from the latest hit band,
or making fashion statements?

Every-time I hear one of the opinionated hosts from the Today
Show proclaim it is the most watched ‘news’ program I cringe.
It should be called what it really is, a variety show that
tosses out a tidbit of news once an hour.

I think this because although I don’t turn the TV on the wife
does watch the Today Show. It would be nice if news was talked
about during at least half of the ‘news’ program. Oh well, this
oldfart needs some coffee and breakfast so I’ll leave it there.
We’ll have a snicker later. Enjoy our Saturday.
Comments are always welcome.

Strange days

The people who get paid to make us think they know what the
weather is going to do were a little off yesterday. Although the
heat index in triple digits most of the day, the sunset was a
sight to behold, and the 20% chance of rain turned into a deluge
that had some guy named Noah worried.

The day started out like most summer days but the ever-changing
sky had me looking up in awe.

The Heavens offered entertainment for all who looked though
most stayed in because of the heat. The heat index was 105
degrees at 7 pm with enough humidity in the air to melt ice
cream trucks.

One would think plants and weeds would whither and die during
this heat unless they got hosed down good once in a while, but
one would be wrong. The beetles appear to love the heat and are
munching on everything edible in sight.

Then around sunset a change was noticed overhead. Said sunset
was amazing where it could be seen and noticeable were it could
not. Sort of hit or miss with dark clouds moving in.

Even with the cloud laden end to the light of the day not much
thought was given to rain. It just felt it would be hot enough
to pop the corn right on the stalk. Then shortly after the sun
went to bed thunder and lightening let you know that plans had
changed.

And then the skies opened up and the free car wash began. Not
sure how much rain we got, but the thunder could have caused a
dead man to sit up. Days like that make you happy to be alive.

Enjoy our friday, we won’t get another one this week. Now I
need coffee.
Comments are always welcome.

Chatting with antique farmer

SAMSUNG CAMERA PICTURES

Talking to Dad yesterday I think we both had a great time. He
was more talkative than usual and we covered a lot of ground.
Everything from one Iowa farmer losing his crop to weather
earlier this week due to storms, to how it’s getting crazy
trying to remember all the different sexes we now have.

We talked of two-cylinder John Deere tractors, some tree limbs
that were hanging in his back yard, and the summer of 1936. In
Iowa that year the temperature stayed above 102 degrees from
the 3rd of July to the 17th, when it dropped to 99 and then
went back up again.

The heat came after a drought that was the dust bowl and on
the heels of record cold and snowfall over the winter. Some
were predicting the end of the world while others strived to
survive. In those days before air-conditioning became popular,
many slept on their porches as the house was just too hot.

Grandpa always said tractors were a fad and horses couldn’t be
worked in the heat because they don’t sweat and would have
dropped over dead. So any work that involved the horses was
done at night. When Grandpa left the farm for the last time in
the early 1970s he still told anyone who would listen that the
tractor was a fad that wouldn’t stand the test of time.

Sometimes I see him standing there with his bib overalls,
matching hat, and brown work boots pulling a hanky out of a
pocket and blowing his nose before starting to talk of the
many fine points of a good work horse.

When it was time to go I noticed Dad was smiling and after I
walked to the car I caught sight of some smiling idiot in the
rear view mirror. It was a great day.

Enjoy our Wednesday.
Comments are always welcome.

That’s what I get for thinking…

After the wife went on her merry way to work I noticed clear
skies after sunset and many stars. So the tri-pod came out
along with the wireless remote to capture the stars. Some came
out pretty good, most looked like this.

Yes, I had forgotten that fireworks are legal now and my
neighbors must have decided to have a contest and see who could
make the most noise for the longest time. When some of these
things went off I thought for a minute I was back aboard ship
with the 5 inch 54 gun mount during target practice!

Windows rattled and night turned into day when these things
went off. But these unknown people were devious. I was lulled
into thinking things were over for the night during a prolonged
silence. I soon found out a truce was declared to allow both
sides of the feud to reload.

When things quieted down again I wasn’t fooled by the silence.
Sure enough the moment I began to nod off things heated up
again. This continued into the early morning hours and sleep
finally came around day break. Now I don’t mind others wanting
to loudly and brightly proclaim their patriotism, and some of
the fireworks were neat to watch, just not into the wee hours
of the morning.

But at my age, sleep is also nice. So if I’m a little off for
the next few days just bear with me and we’ll get through it.
Enjoy our Sunday. Here on the east coast of Iowa it’s looking
to be another picture perfect night for fireworks.
Comments are always welcome.

Really?

This has been a week for the record books, and it isn’t even
over yet. I’m beginning to lose faith in my fellow humans who
share our space. Through it all I did manage to get the front
lawn mowed before it rained and will finish the back when this
is finished.

Earlier this week, in the middle of a conversation, I had a
lady ask me if I had my teeth or wore dentures. I didn’t know
what to make of the question but answered that my teeth were
the ones I was born with.

Then yesterday when I went to the doctors office the nurse
asked me if I used alcohol or street drugs! I had never been
asked that question before and wondered if perhaps it wasn’t
time I get a haircut. Sometimes being a long haired redneck has
it challenges.

While at the doctors I did have an episode that hearkened back
to the days of my ear injury due to gunfire. I couldn’t hear
anything! The wife later told me the receptionists had asked
me my name and I replied “I’m here to see the doctor”. That
explained the bewildered look on the poor girls face.

Later last night we had the monster storm that didn’t happen.
We were under a tornado watch, severe thunderstorm watch, and
told the size of the hail falling from the skies could reach
epic proportions. And, it didn’t happen. We did get heavy rain
in the morning, just no storm last night.

And while not a first, a headline caught my eye from a small
town Iowa newspaper. It said “Tornado destroys house, one horse
injured.” Gotta love small towns. Storms are predicted again
today and since I set outside with my camera to get some
pictures of the storm that didn’t come, I’ll wait until I hear
it to go out.

So enjoy our Wednesday wherever you are. Tomorrow it will just
be a memory.
Comments are always welcome.