Category Archives: weather

by | July 15, 2012 · 8:50 pm

“At the Zoo” (28 years)

No, Lucy was not a Simon & Garfunkel fan; so Suzy, you don’t have to dig around for a song that hit the airwaves a few months before Julie was born. As I mentioned Friday, Lucy and I went to the Minnesota Zoo on our first date. It was also a hot and muggy day back in 1984. It was very sunny that day with no breeze with a high in the low 90’s. Today was overcast and breezy with a high in the low 90’s.

As I turned on the radio when I got in the car, “Second Chance” was playing right at the verse I used in Lucy’s eulogy. The odds of it happening once are remote. The odds of it happening twice are probably close to astronomical.

The zoo has changed through the years, of course. It took me three hours to walk through everything. That’s about the same amount of time Lucy and I spent on our first date. I stopped in the bird show just after it started. One of the new birds on exhibit is an eagle owl. Lucy would have been in awe of how big it is. Unlike other owls, it does not have yellow eyes (and no, the owl’s name was not Lucy).

One advantage about going to the zoo on a very warm day is the predominate species on display, Homo sapiens, is out in reduced numbers. However, there is also a marked reduction in patience, manners, hygiene, and intelligence. The younger members of the species are crankier and gravitate towards the water features. Of the many couples there, some with offspring in tow, it was obvious a few were on their first or second date. I wonder how many would be lucky enough to have found the person he or she wants to spend the rest of his or her life with?

There was a serious run on the $4.00 frozen lemonade. When the guy at the booth said “Lemme guess, frozen lemonade?” I asked him if he had a turtle mocha with two shots of espresso. At least he got a chuckle out of it. I didn’t get a discount of the lemonade, either.

The Dinosaurs exhibit runs until September 3rd. I didn’t go to see it. The nerd in me wanted to go, but I think it would be more fun to go with someone. Anyway, I’d probably need adult supervision because I would be trying to take the animatronic critters apart to see how they tick.

I didn’t make it to Don Pablo’s. It was more of a Dairy Queen day. Trying to move forward doesn’t always happen in leaps and bounds. Sometimes it’s more of a nudge and a scoot.

Eagle owl

Eagle owl

The "Dinosaurs" exhibit I hope to see

The “Dinosaurs” exhibit I hope to see

A closer picture of the eagle owl

A closer picture of the eagle owl

Notice the eyes are reddish-brown on the eagle owl, not yellow like most other owls.

Notice the eyes are reddish-brown on the eagle owl, not yellow like most other owls.

One slightly agitated bald eagle

One slightly agitated bald eagle

Just before getting very vocal

Just before getting very vocal

Leave a Comment

Filed under music, nature, rebuilding, weather

by | June 29, 2012 · 10:13 pm

Blackberries, raspberries and flowers

I’m trying to figure out where the past nine days have gone. I know work has consumed a goodly portion of it. The one nice thing about gardening is seeing all the changes that occur on different timelines. I’m already picking blackberries and raspberries and my green beans are flowering. The Japanese beetles are dining on the roses, but their numbers are down considerably from this time last year. I didn’t get a chance to lay down Grub-X this year, but maybe the drought last summer thinned the herd. This is the only time of the year I tolerate crows. They love eating Japanese beetles and their larvae. I wish the squirrels and chipmunks would acquire the same taste.

I picked up lures for my Japanese beetles traps and will get the traps set out tomorrow. I think there are about two pints of raspberries to pick. The false sunflowers, blanket flowers, bachelor’s buttons, and catmint around the mailbox are all in bloom now. On the south side of the garage, the various yarrows are in bloom, including a couple of colors I know we didn’t plant. All the clematis are blooming, but it looks like I lost a hardy hibiscus after eight years, and the Russian sage looks like it is on its last legs after almost thirteen years. There has been just enough rain lately to keep the tamarisk loaded with its tiny pink flowers, but not enough to sustain the mosquito population. I think that’s a pretty good balance.

It’s been warm, but the humidity has not been as beastly oppressive as a couple of weeks ago. It appears we’re in for a stretch of upper 80’s to mid-90’s for the next week with only a couple of chances of rain. Of course that will be the day I decide to get the car washed.

Tomorrow will be the first Saturday since Memorial Day weekend I have not had to go into the office. I’m hoping to have a couple more weekends like that before the next crunch kicks in.

Try to brighten someone else’s day when you can! Thank you for your time, and have a wonderful evening.

1 Comment

Filed under gardening, rebuilding, weather

by | June 20, 2012 · 9:25 pm

First day of summer, 2012

It’s 2012, not 2013. Sorry, Dana, you’re not 20 yet!

Today saw a little rain this afternoon and evening. I saw a double rainbow tonight. The inner rainbow was nice and strong, the outer one was somewhat weak. The last double rainbow I saw was when Lucy and I were returning from her mother’s funeral last August. Lucy liked rainbows.

The rainy weather here is hatching two unfortunate crops: mosquitoes and Japanese beetles. I’ll have to find time this weekend to set out the Japanese beetle traps. I know I’ll be putting in some time Saturday at work.

So maybe there was no pot of gold at the end of tonight’s rainbow, but it did bring back some nice memories of Lucy and me looking out the window at rainbows. She would smile when seeing one. I hope you had a chance to smile tonight, too.

double rainbow

The double rainbow from tonight.

double-rainbow-1

Another view of tonight’s double rainbow.

 

Leave a Comment

Filed under gardening, rebuilding, weather

by | June 17, 2012 · 3:59 pm

Happy Father’s Day

I’ve been battling some sort of stomach bug for the past four days and I’m still putting in a bit of overtime at work. So to my father and father-in-law, your Father’s Day cards will be a day or two late. To the both of you, thank you for all your support and patience. It has made me a better person.

I’m starting to figure out some of the concepts of the various technologies, but it’s been a slow process. It’s frustrating because I usually pick up programming languages and other technologies very quickly. I’m looking at the process as “short-term pain for long-term gain”. The questionable part is defining “short-term”.

We’re out of the monsoon season, but we are still getting enough rain so that I have not had to water anything but the pansy bowl in front and the Impatiens in back. The mini glads have shot out of the ground, the dahlias and cannas are over a foot tall, and the mystery Delphinium I moved earlier in the season is a deep purple. Lucy only bought true blue Delphiniums so this one is courtesy of a bird. All the shrub roses are in full bloom and the climbing rose has bountiful blooms. Lucy’s lilies are looking better than ever. I’ll be picking about a pint of blackberries in a couple of weeks and five or six quarts of raspberries in early July. Lucy loved this time of year when everything was blooming and green. I’m sure she is happy her gardens are doing so well.

For those of you who can, give your father (or father figure) a big hug today. Trust me, they have earned it!

Leave a Comment

Filed under family, gardening, rebuilding, weather

by | June 9, 2012 · 10:07 pm

The hurrieder I go, the behinder I get

Benjamin Franklin wanted “Tempus Fugit” (time flees) as the motto of the United States, and had that motto placed on some of the Continental Congress coinage. Working extra hours shortens my week, of course. I swear about the time Silverlight starts making sense something else throws me for a loop. I know my brain is not functioning at anywhere near 100%, which isn’t helping. I keep blanking out on stuff that I know.

Minnesota Oncology sent a sympathy card that arrived on Monday because the post office screwed up delivery. It was very nice of them to send the card. Lucy and I knew she got the best possible care there.

There were three birthdays, Jane on the 6th, John on the 7th and Julie G. on the 8th, that I haven’t properly acknowledged. Happy belated birthday to each of you.

The flower gardens are hitting their stride. I need to get a few more photos in the photo gallery. The Asian lilies are spectacular this year and the ancient and sickly peony actually bloomed. It looks like I’ll get a pretty good crop of blackberries and raspberries and the string beans I am growing in containers on the deck are setting flower buds. Now that the monsoon season has ended, the lawn doesn’t require twice per week mowing.

Lucy would be happy with the increased number of monarchs I am seeing. Monarchs had a huge population crash several years ago when a large wintering area for them got unseasonably cold and killed a few billion of them. The dragonflies are busy and I’m seeing sphinx moths, which almost look like hummingbirds. I have not seen a hummingbird yet this year, but I’m sure they are out there.

Wednesday will be two months since Lucy’s passing. In some ways, it doesn’t seem like it’s been that long, yet in other ways, it seems like two million years.

The weather has cooperated nicely for the Twin Cities area as of late. It sounds like tomorrow night could bring some rain and possibly a few storms our way. The air conditioner has been getting a workout lately, too.

Give our loved ones a hug tonight and make it meaningful. You may be surprised at how much a good hug is appreciated, especially when they go from plentiful to scarce.

Leave a Comment

Filed under family, friends, gardening, rebuilding, weather