Misty Moon and Mimosa

Click on the photo to take a look at tonight's moon-rise. Listen to the crickets and tree-frogs chirping, swat a mosquito, and feel a gentle current of cool night air on your cheek. That's Kentucky in early June. (I found that I had written this, saved it, and never posted it. So here it is.)

August Sunset

Corn, sky, and Johnsongrass.

Do you see the stalk of Johnsongrass in this photo, growing nearly as tall as the cornstalks? Grassy weed, weedy grass -- either would be a good description for Johnsongrass. The Commonwealth of Kentucky and at least 17 other states call it a noxious weed!

The Hayfield Water Jug

Cool water in a hot place

My dad prepared thoroughly for the haying season. He overhauled all the tractors and hay-making machinery and got each component into the best working order possible. He stockpiled sickle sections and guards, rake teeth, sweep teeth, belts, hoses, tractor gas, oil and grease, hydraulic fluid, and so on. In the back of one of the pickups, he mounted the gas tank for fueling the tractors. He also mounted the wooden carrier that held the big Igloo water cooler where a thirsty hay hand could get a drink.

I didn't participate in the pre-season work in my father's machine shop, but I did make a new hayfield water jug every year. In the hayfield, I worked separately, away from the group that was putting up the cured hay. I was on the mowing machine at the edge of the uncut grass. I needed a personal water jug so I didn't have to travel far to get a drink.

Here's how I made my hayfield jug. I raided Mama's collection of jars and acquired a big glass vinegar or cider bottle. Then, I raided her cloth scraps and acquired some rags and pieces of old jeans.  I wrapped several layers of rags around the bottle, fitting the cloth to the curves, and I tacked the layers in place with enough stitches to hold them together.

Then, I enclosed the bottle in a layer of denim that I cut from the old jeans. I made some  tucks and folds so the denim would fit the bottle's shape, and I sewed it in place as neatly, tightly, and firmly as I could.

I didn't invent this method of making a hayfield jug. I watched my mother make them when I was a little child.

Every day, before I went to the hayfield, I filled my jug with cold water, and I also saturated its cloth shell. When I got to the hayfield, I found a shady place to stash it. The evaporation of the moisture from the cloth wrapper helped keep the water in the jug cool.

In the hayfield on a summer day, the hay crew got hot and dirty. We didn't have air-conditioned cabs on our tractors. The only shade was from our hats. Dust and pollen and chaff stuck to our sweat-dampened skin  and clothing. Sometimes we got off our machinery and worked up an extra sweat by moving hay around by hand or fixing something that was broken. The hottest work of all,  in my experience, was to lie in the prickly grass stubble under my windrower and pull a hot, wet, sappy clog of hay out of the crimper.

Sunbaked, gummy with sweat and dust, my arms green with grass juice after a crimper episode -- then, how sweet it was to pull my still-damp jug from its shady nook and drink deeply. If cool water ran down my face and soaked my shirt as I tipped the jug, it was a well-earned bonus.

By the end of the hay season, the denim cover of the water jug showed hard use. It had been damp to some degree all summer. It had lain on the ground and rolled around on the grimy floor of the pickup truck, day after day. The stitching had come loose in places, releasing odd folds of cloth, and threads had raveled where the cut edges of the denim were exposed. It didn't matter. By then, the water jug had served its purpose.

I would make a new jug next summer, as we prepared again to go to the hayfield.

Thanks for reading this memory of my childhood in the Nebraska Sandhills.

- - - - -

Related:
Hayfields I Have Known
The Hayfield
Newport, Nebraska: Hay Town
Bull Stories
Horse-drawn Hay Rake
Horse-drawn Hay Sweep-Rake

Crazy Summer of '92

July 4, 1992 remembered

In 1987, we went to Germany with AAFES (the Army Air Force Exchange Service, my husband's employer). We spent two years in the Aschaffenburg area (south of Frankfurt) and three years in Berlin.  The July 4 weekend  of 2011 is the 19th anniversary of our return to the U.S. from Germany.

Leaving Berlin

We lived in military housing when we first arrived in Berlin. Our apartment there was decent, but about 18 months before we left, we were moved to a spacious apartment in a lovely, brand-new building. We had playgrounds and a small shopping district within walking distance, and bus service practically to our door. We liked where we lived. And we had friends in Berlin -- church friends, German friends, and military friends. When AAFES gave us orders to Fort Campbell, Kentucky, it was hard to leave Berlin.

Keely was five years old and Isaac had just turned two. Dennis had to work full-time until the last few days before we left, so much of the work of preparing for our PCS (Permanent Change of Station) fell to me. I didn't get much sleep during the last few days. On our departure date, July 3, I lay down on a bare mattress at 2 a.m. for a nap. We got up at 4 a.m. and left for the airport at 5 a.m.

I was so exhausted that I don't remember many details of the long flight back to the US. I guess the children were good. I don't remember. Maybe Dennis was entertaining them. I suppose we came through New York -- we usually did. I do remember asking Dennis if we should make a sign with our name on it, so the AAFES manager from Fort Campbell who was meeting us in Nashville would recognize us. My husband said not to worry; he would be able to pick us out from the crowd.

Arrival in Tennessee

When we finally landed in Nashville, we gathered our children and carry-ons and headed for the baggage claim. Before long, a dark-haired, thin young man with glasses approached us and asked, "Are you the Netz family?" It was George Ricker, an AAFES manager from Fort Campbell and one of my husband's new co-workers.

As we walked from the terminal to the car, I observed that the air was very humid and unpleasantly warm. It was 11 p.m, but heat was radiating from the pavement. It certainly didn't feel like Berlin, where we had been wearing little jackets in the evenings. I had packed sweaters for Keely and Isaac,  but clearly we wouldn't be needing them. George told us that Tennessee was having a record-setting heat-wave.

We stuffed our luggage into the trunk of an AAFES car, and the kids and I got in the back seat. Dennis rode in front, and George drove. We got on the interstate and drove through the city and out into the dark night of the countryside. George and Dennis talked about Fort Campbell and the job and AAFES people for a long time, and the children dozed against me. It seemed that surely we would reach our destination soon.

Then we passed a large, green road sign that announced we were entering Kentucky. George exclaimed, "Oh, NO!" And then he groaned, "I can't believe I did that!"

"Did what?" we asked.



View Larger Map

"I forgot to turn off I-65 onto I-24, and now we're way up north," he said sheepishly. "We have to turn around and go back. There's nothing else to do. I'm sorry! I was too busy talking!"   So we turned around and drove back to the intersection George had missed on the north side of Nashville, and then we headed west on I-24 from Nashville to Clarksville (TN).

Our detour more than doubled the amount of time it should have taken to get to Clarksville, but at last, we checked into our motel suite and fell into our beds. It had been a very long day of travel.

Unbelievable heat

About noon the next day -- July 4, 1992 -- we walked out of our dark, air-conditioned rooms into the staggering heat and brilliance of a parking lot on a 102-degree day. The blinding sunshine, intense heat, and suffocating humidity made me feel weak.

My husband started work immediately, so he could save his "PCS" time-off for moving into our house later. With no consideration of his living situation, his boss assigned him to the midnight shift. Every day about 10:00 a.m.,  I left the motel with Keely and Isaac so Dennis could try to sleep. Mid-afternoon, we slipped back into the other room of the suite, and I tried to get the kids to take a nap or watch cartoons quietly.

At last, a home

We spent about a month in the Clarksville motel and another month in a Hopkinsville motel while we located, purchased, and waited for possession of our new home. Keely started school while we were still living in the Hopkinsville motel. I talked to the principal and explained that we weren't yet living in the district, but we soon would be.

One final bit of lunacy in our lives was the woman who was living in the house we bought. She didn't want to move out, and she was angry that we had bought the house. She found out what motel we were in, and she started calling frequently on the telephone to scream at us. The motel couldn't or wouldn't screen the calls. We wondered if she would even move out of the house, but she finally did.

It was a happy day when we moved to our new home on the Tuesday after Labor Day. A big truck brought our furniture a few days later. Gradually, we developed some routines again and began to feel comfortable in Kentucky. But every year at Fourth of July, I remember the long (very long!), hot (very hot!), and crazy (very crazy!) summer of 1992.

Airplane image from Clipart Inc.

Around Christian County, KY

Scenes of early summer

Wheat is ripening. Some fields were harvested last week.
This wheatfield is across the road from our house, and
the wheat seems to be a particularly tall variety. Our
neighbor will harvest both straw and grain.

Native daylilies are blooming in the road ditches.

Starbucks Coffee in Hopkinsville is hosting half a dozen 

bird nests, built into the big letters on the side of the building.

I suppose these cavities are the best substitute for holes in a cliff 

that the birds could find. Hurry, Mama! Baby's hungry!

Honeysuckle and Old-time Roses

June blooms in central Kentucky

Honeysuckle and an old rose grow intertwined around the tall stump of an old cedar tree in our yard. It's June, and for now, they are making up for all their faults. The roses are a profusion of bright color, and the honeysuckle has a lovely fragrance.

This rose is an uncivilized semi-climber that probably dates back to the log cabin on this property. Some might call it an heirloom rose, but I call it an opportunist. With any encouragement, it throws out canes that are 15 feet or more in length. Wherever the canes touch dirt, they root down, and a new rose plant grows.

I once made the mistake of transplanting a cutting of this rose to a flower bed. After just one season of a softer life, thorny rose stems were sprawling off their pole teepee and rooting down everywhere.  I had to dig it out, and it took me a couple of years to fully eradicate rose sprouts from the area. I learned my lesson! This rose is doing quite well enough in the spot where it has always grown! It needs some stress and regular encounters with the lawn mower to keep it in check.

Honeysuckle is one of the most invasive non-native plants in Kentucky.  We have a big problem with it in our yard. It loves to get in the shrubbery and climb to the top where it can thrive in the sunshine. Before long, the health of the shrubs begins to suffer from sunshine-deprivation and the weight of the honeysuckle vines.

One way of controlling honeysuckle is to cut the base of the vine and spray it with Roundup. Then you can try to pull the vines down, but it's a difficult chore. Honeysuckle is a twiner, which means that the vines wind around and around whatever they're climbing.  I am sure I would never be able to separate the honeysuckle vines and rose vines that you see in the photo!

The Sun Sets on a Very Hot Day

Extreme heat and humidity

Wednesday, August 4, 2010, was a very hot day in Christian County, KY. The temperature reached 101°F, and a light-but-suffocating fog of humidity intensified the heat. The heat indexes were in the 106-110° range. The National Weather Service issued an "Excessive Heat Warning" that began on the morning of the 4th. It continues through 7:00 pm on August 5.

The air-conditioning repairman's truck was parked outside my workplace when I arrived. The repairman worked on the system for a while and said it was fixed. The store stayed hot and very humid all day, but it was cooler inside than outside. Who dared to tempt the fates by complaining?

One of my customers said that she found an older lady wandering around the parking lot in the heat. She was looking for her car, and she had forgotten where she parked. My customer persuaded her to come inside and call her daughter. She was afraid that the lady's mental confusion was a symptom of heat exhaustion.

Another elderly lady told me that she became a little dizzy as she walked across the scorching parking lot and into the store. She said a nice man opened the doors to the store for her and told her that she looked wobbly. He said that she should sit down until she cooled off -- so she did. She felt much better in a few minutes, and she was able to walk around and do her shopping. I hope her guardian angel helped her get back home safely,  too!

I heard on the radio this evening that a workman collapsed in the upraised bucket of a utility truck yesterday, as he was installing fiber optic cable in Clarksville, TN. His co-workers administered CPR but he died later in the hospital. The cause of death was unknown, but it seems very likely to me that heat stress played a part in it.

This weather is dangerous. Please be careful. Stay inside if you can. Don't take chances. Check on your pets and your neighbors, and be alert even for strangers who may need a little help.

Yard Sale, Second Edition

Once more, with gusto

Lots of customers at 8:00 a.m.

Keely and I had a yard sale today -- an encore performance of last year's event.

This time, we advertised the sale in the newspaper as well as posting lots of signs. I think the $14 ad was worth it, even though Keely has an excellent location that attracts drive-by customers. We made a little more money this year than we did last year, even with fewer "big ticket" items for sale. Quarters and one-dollar bills, in quantity, can amount to a surprising sum.

Customers began arriving at about 6:30 a.m., even though we had advertised that we'd be open at 7:00 a.m. Between that time and 11:00 a.m., we were very busy. We had a dozen shoppers at once, several times, and we almost always had at least one or two customers.

In the crowd, there were a few familiar faces. Some were friends making a planned visit to our sale, and some were friends who just happened by and were surprised to see whose sale they were attending.

The hot weather made us think about closing early, but we resisted temptation and stayed open until 3:30 p.m. During the last three hours, we made an additional $50, despite marking down many items to half-price or even cheaper. There were two benefits -- the extra sales, of course, and also, the fact that other people packed our stuff away, so we didn't have to cope with it.

When we closed, we saved out a few items and took everything else to Goodwill. It wasn't a total "clean sweep", but very close to it.

About 2:00 p.m., with much less merchandise!

Not a Pretty Picture

Drought-damaged corn

Here's a cornfield that I pass nearly every day. The leaves of the corn plants are rolled up tight to try to conserve moisture. We had a little shower today, and we're thankful for it, but I don't think it will do much for these plants.

Tobacco Field

Summer in Christian County, KY

I don't know if the dead-looking leaves at the base of these tobacco plants have been caused by the dry, hot weather, or if the plants are suffering from some disease or fungus. A lot of the corn around Christian County has been damaged by lack of rain, but tobacco is usually a little more drought-resistant than corn.

Most Humid Places in the U.S.

Why Iowa and Kentucky have humid climates

One of the women at my workplace was talking to me about the high humidity we've had this week. (The National Weather Service issued heat advisories several days because heat indexes were in the 102°-105° F. range. Heat index is a "feels-like" figure computed from heat and humidity readings.)

"Oh, it's hot and humid here in Kentucky," Miss K. assured me. "But this is nothing compared to Iowa! I've lived all over the U.S., and Iowa has the worst heat and humidity of anywhere! Oh my gosh, Iowa was even worse than New Orleans!"

I had never thought of Iowa as a place that rivaled New Orleans in heat and humidity, so I mentally filed her remark under "Odd things people have said to me about the Midwest".  (Also in that mental file: a customer's remark that it's downright rude how people in Kansas talk so fast.)

Later, I did a little research and found the following chart on NOAA's National Climatic Data website.

I wasn't too surprised that no cities in Iowa made the list of the top ten most humid cities in the U.S!  However, I'm sure that Iowa gets a full share of humidity. I don't doubt that Iowa becomes an uncomfortable place on summer days when it's very hot and very humid.

You see, Kentucky and Iowa are in the same climate zone. Both states lie entirely east of the 100th Meridian. You may remember from geography class that meridians are imaginary lines that run from the North Pole to the South Pole. The 100th Meridian cuts through the middle of North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska, Kansas, Oklahoma, and Texas.

East of the 100th Meridian, we Kentuckians and Iowans (and the folks in various neighboring states) share a humid-continental climate. Our part of the U.S. is kept humid and rainy by the flow of warm, moist air northward from the Gulf of Mexico. West of the 100th Meridian, the climate is much dryer, and while summer temperatures can reach high levels, the average rainfall and humidity are much lower.

New Orleans is an entirely different climatic category. It has a humid subtropical climate, due to its location near the Gulf of Mexico.

Let's compare statistics from Weather Underground for July 2010, so far:

• At Witmer Park in Des Moines, Iowa, temps have averaged 76.1°F, and humidity has averaged 78.4%. 
• At the Christian County Weather Operations Center at Hopkinsville KY, temps have averaged 79.1°F and humidity has averaged 77%. 
• At the Louis Armstrong Airport near New Orleans, temperatures so far have averaged 81.0°F and --wow!-- humidity has averaged 85%.  

So, New Orleans wins both the high temps and the high humidity contest, so far in July 2010, for these three locations. I'm not shocked. Furthermore, it can't be denied that Des Moines has a much shorter summer than either New Orleans or Hopkinsville. I suspect that Miss K. was indulging in a bit of hyperbole or selective memory when she made that statement about Iowa's summers.

Mushrooms, Mottled with Purple

Unidentified Kentucky mushroom

Dozens of these brown and purple mushrooms have sprung up under the old maple tree. I suppose that the spores were lying on the ground, waiting for perfect conditions, and the several quick, hard rains of last week  activated them. Obviously, they like hot, steamy weather.

I have searched the internet for a couple of hours, trying to find an identified mushroom that looks like these. I've looked at photographs of hundreds of mushrooms, but I haven't found a single one that resembles these at all. Maybe these mushrooms are an unusual variety. Or maybe I'm not recognizing them when I see them in someone else's photograph..

It could be that I'm just not searching with the right terms. It's hard to describe them. Are they orange, copper, brown, or tan? Purple or violet blotches, spots, or mottling?

It wouldn't surprise me to learn that these mushrooms are usually found around old trees whose roots are rotting. Our old maple tree is in decline. It has taken a beating in several ice storms and it's leaning southeast. That's a good direction, if it must lean; our house is on the west side of the tree.

UPDATE 6/30/10

Here are a couple of views of the bottom of one of the mushrooms. I really had to search around to find one that was still fresh. All of them have gone dark brown on their top skins, and I only found one little mushroom that hadn't gone brown on its underside. It is smaller than any of the mushrooms in the photo at top. Isaac brought home a pocketful of Euro change from Germany, and the coin in the photo is one of those -- more or less the size of a half-dollar coin.

The flesh is yellow all the way through. The little dip in the outer margin of the mushroom cap seems to be a feature of the species.  In some of the larger mushrooms that I pulled up while trying to find a fresh one, the stem seems to be set to one side, because the dip was deep and spread-open.

June Heat

Yes, I'm whining.

Highs and lows predicted for Hopkinsville for the next five days:

 Sat. 95° F | 74° F (Heat advisory, heat index 105° to 110° F.)

 Sun. 95° F | 74° F (Heat advisory continues)

 Mon. 95° F | 70° F

Tues. 95° F | 72° F

Weds. 94° F | 74° F

Source: Weather Underground for Hopkinsville, KY, 9:00 pm, June 19, 2010.

Winter Person or Summer Person?

Too hot, too soon, for me!

Our five-day forecast predicts four days next week with highs of 90° or more and one day with a high of 88°. If the humidity continues as it has this past week, the heat indexes will be close to 100° every day. Ugh. It's only June. It's too early for this!

Lately, I've been trying to do yard and garden work in the evenings after the worst of the day's heat is over. Even then, the warm temperatures and high humidity slow me down a lot. I don't have the stamina for working in the heat that I once did. I wish I could have done the work when the weather was cooler, but the weeds hadn't grown yet!

I saw the above quotation a few years ago at the National Museum of the American Indian (Smithsonian Institute).When I read it, I knew immediately that I was a winter person, not a summer person. I don't love winter, but I cope better with cold than with heat. I don't dread winter's cold, but I do dread summer's heat.

How about you? Winter person or summer person?

National Museum of the American Indian

Bright Sunset

Pink is not just for stucco.

Seen in Hopkinsville, KY

Quick and Easy Ice Cream Cake

Simple summer dessert

Guys, this recipe is for you, too. It came from my sister Charlotte, and she learned it from her sons, Clifford and Ben, when they had an apartment together. It takes maybe 10 minutes to put together.

Ingredients:
2 boxes of 12 ice cream sandwiches (24 sandwiches total)
1 large tub of Cool Whip, thawed
Chocolate sprinkles

Directions:
Unwrap the first box of ice cream sandwiches and cover the bottom of a 9x13" baking dish with them. Spread about half of the Cool Whip over them. Unwrap the second box of ice cream sandwiches and cover the layer of Cool Whip with them. Cover and place in freezer. When ready to serve, slice the "cake" and top each serving with Cool Whip and chocolate sprinkles.

I made this a few minutes ago and put it in the freezer. Our weekend company is arriving tomorrow evening, and I'll serve this for supper dessert. I have to work tomorrow, so I'm trying to keep everything as simple as I can.

And if this sounds like redneck cuisine -- well, you aren't too surprised, surely.

Happy 4th of July, everyone. Have a safe holiday!

Homemade Orange Julius

Slush fun

These smoothies will really cool you down on a hot day.

Combine the following ingredients in a 6-cup blender:

Ice cubes to the 3-cup mark
6 ounces frozen orange juice concentrate
2 rounded tablespoons sugar or Splenda
2 cups milk
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 banana (if desired)
1/2 teaspoon coconut extract (if desired)
Enough regular orange juice (not concentrate) to fill the blender to the top mark.

Put on the lid and blend on high speed until the slush is smooth. Serve immediately in glasses with straws.  Enjoy with a clear conscience -- orange juice, milk and water are good for you, and the banana is good for you too, if you added it.

Suggestion: While you have all the ingredients out, make a second batch of the recipe to freeze. Pour into styrofoam coffee cups; cover each cup with plastic wrap held in place by a rubber band. Place in freezer until solid. Serve the frozen ices with a spoon -- they are very similar to the "Frozen Lemonades" found in grocery freezer sections.

A Break From the Heat

Cooler weather next week

We've had a full week of heat advisories, high humidity and temperatures over 90° every day. The heat indexes have been up to 105° every afternoon.  Weather like this in June could be the harbinger of a long, hot summer, though I hope not..

Our forecast predicts cooler weather next week, particularly at night. If we really do get some cooler days, it certainly will be a welcome relief. Meanwhile, I'm very grateful for air conditioning.

Sunday Night -- Partly cloudy. Lows in the upper 60s.

Monday -- Mostly sunny. Highs in the upper 80s.

Monday Night -- Mostly clear. Lows in the mid 60s.

Tuesday through Thursday --Mostly clear. Highs in the upper 80s. Lows in the upper 60s

Source: Weather Underground for Hopkinsville, KY.

Summer Glories

Tangles of flowers in sunshine and shade

Seen on Pardue Lane
in Hopkinsville, KY

Seen on Edwards Mill Road,
east of Hopkinsville, KY

June's Last Sunset

Orange and purple

We've had some wonderfully cool weather for a few days. Last night, the temperatures were in the upper 50s. We slept with the windows open, and I actually got cold enough to pull the blanket over me.

The temperatures are supposed to be a little higher today, but just in the 80s. In fact, we are supposed to stay in the 80s for the next week. I'm sure this won't last, but for now, I'm loving it.