franksolich's primitive-free summer

[franksolich]

By the way, we have another member whose dad's house burned down in Colorado. I asked in that thread, did any of the sandhill's blazes sweep into Colorado ?

Nope.  Too far away.

His dad's home is in the Rocky Mountains, in central Colorado.

The fires in the Sandhills were, or are, up on the roof of Nebraska.

A few hundred miles' difference there.

I dunno what started the fires there--usually in blue states, they're started by stupid primitives with malicious motives, but I have no idea about this particular case.  The fires up here were started, as they inevitably always are, by lightning.

[obumazombie]

Nope.  Too far away.

His dad's home is in the Rocky Mountains, in central Colorado.

The fires in the Sandhills were, or are, up on the roof of Nebraska.

A few hundred miles' difference there.

I dunno what started the fires there--usually in blue states, they're started by stupid primitives with malicious motives, but I have no idea about this particular case.  The fires up here were started, as they inevitably always are, by lightning.

Ah. Thanks. My curiosity is temporarily slaked.

[Skul]

Sky sparks have always been a problem your way.
Happy to see Hastings get a bit or rain.
The museum there, has always held a fascination to me.

[franksolich]

Sky sparks have always been a problem your way.

Happy to see Hastings get a bit or rain.

I haven't been to bed yet, because I wanted to see the first rain I've seen since.....April.

Hastings and the rest of southern Nebraska are dry and could use rain, yes, but they have had some rain the past few months.  Some big rains, too.  Up here, no, not a drop.

My attitude is, well, even if the roof of Nebraska got a Noahian deluge--we got a sprinkle--it's far too late to save anything, so I guess it best rain where it would do some good.

[Skul]

Ya know, my friend. I now where to go with my two squirrels, two chickens and a couple of obnoxious raccoons. 

[franksolich]

Ya know, my friend. I now where to go with my two squirrels, two chickens and a couple of obnoxious raccoons. 

I've heard it said there's raccoons around here, but all I've ever seen of anything like that are opossums.

<<not an expert on wildlife.

The cats do a pretty good job at keeping varmits at bay; when I first came here, the meadows and groves were infested with rabbits and garter snakes.  It's now been about, oh, four years, since I've last seen any of these.

One time when I woke up in the middle of the night, I thought there was a cat on the front porch who wanted inside, and so I kindly opened the door.  As it came inside and immediately headed for the kitchen, it took me five or ten seconds to think, "Hey, that's rather big for a cat."  (The house was dark.)

It turned out to be a big fat opossum about the size of a small (but not an infant) pig, and it'd vacuumed down the entire contents of the cat-food bowl before I could persuade it to leave.

The cats weren't on the job that night.

[franksolich]

Well, it's now official.

According to the Omaha World-Herald this morning, in July 2012, Nebraska was drier even than it was during the Dust Bowl of the 1930s.

The Great Barack Drought of '12.

It doesn't look any better for Barack Milhous in November 2012 than it did for Herbert Hoover in November 1932.

We'll get over the drought, but too bad for the primitives.

[thundley4]

I watched one of the local station's news yesterday.  They interviewed a farmer that split his corn planting this year. He planted some in very early March which isn't normally done because of the danger from frost.
  It seems that those acres he planted early might be the only productive acres this year.

That got me to thinking, that maybe the growing seasons might be undergoing a time shift. This summer has been hotter than most of the recent years, but then again, the past few summers were cooler than in the past.

Recent winters have for the most part been more mild than I remember as a kid, too.

[obumazombie]

Drought owebuma was built by him. No one else built that.

[franksolich]

Drought owebuma was built by him. No one else built that.

We had rain during the night (Friday night into Saturday morning), and more than just a sprinkle-sprinkle like a couple of nights ago.  And in fact it looks as if it might rain more during parts of today.

It's too late to do any good, but it did feel good.

But at any rate, the record's broken; July 2012 was the driest and hottest month in the recorded history of Nebraska, including the Dust Bowl of the 1930s.  The foliage covering the William Rivers Pitt, which always has something to sustain plant life even during the coldest of winters, is burned to a cinder.

It's very reminiscent of August 1932, and we all know what happened November 1932.....