Tuesday, September 29, 2009, 04:22
Fall Has Arrived
I don't know why I should feel so taken by surprise. I knew it was bound to happen soon. The blustery windstorm Sunday evening and Sunday night brought with it far colder temperatures than we've been experiencing for the last month.
Monday the sky was cloudy for most of the day with a strong wind of 20 mph gusting to about 30 mph out of the north/northwest. Rain squalls moved through from time to time too. And the high was only in the 50s.
Saturday it felt actually hot and humid, and now Monday, it was cold and damp and blustery -- it definitely feels like fall now. Saturday I was wearing a sleeveless shirt. Monday, a hooded sweatshirt was a necessity. So were work boots with extra socks.
The colder temperatures with a strong wind makes it sound musical around here at Rural Route 2. The wind chimes are tinkling and clanging and tinging and making their presence known to all who care to stop and listen.
Only a few of the maples have started to turn brilliant red in the hills. In a week or so, we ought to know if there is going to be good color this year or just drabness fading to brown.
Vet Clinic
I was only able to find homes for one of the barn kittens this year, so Monday morning I took the remaining three to the vet clinic for their vaccinations. Long John Silver (who is going to be a big silver tom with tabby rings on his tail), Jack (really Jack B. Nimble, but I figured that was asking a lot of the vet clinic to put in his records for a smallish black tom) and little Whiskers (a black female with one white whisker) have joined the group of barn cats.
Long John Silver weighs over eight pounds already. Jack weighs a little over seven pounds. And Whiskers is only five pounds. They are a friendly group. Their momma decided she was done taking care of them about a month ago, and they have adopted me as their momma. Whenever I am out in the yard or am out feeding the horses or working around the barn or the garden, they are there to keep an eye on things and to "help" if they can. They all have big, rumbling purrs, too, which helps me to see them in the dark when I go out to check on the horses before I go to bed.
Long John Silver, Jack and Whiskers have already received their instructions: LeAnn had better not have any mice leaping out at her when she is getting a bale of hay for the horses.
I will soon be scheduling their spay and neuter surgeries so we can get that out of the way before it gets *too* cold.
Recovery
Randy is still experiencing quite a bit of pain. He says the surgical area burns and pinches. He goes back to the doctor Tuesday, but I doubt he will get the drain tube out. Monday the surgical site drained 33cc all together. And it has to be less than 30cc before it can be taken out. I think once the drain tube is out, he might feel a little better because he won't have that long tube and bulb to contend with all of the time. I have to pin it to the back of his shirt when he is ready to go to sleep and pin it on the front or the side if he is up and about.
LeAnn R. Ralph
Monday, September 28, 2009, 04:34
Watch Out!
Sunday started out nice enough. A sunny day. A slight breeze. For the past month, we have had warm temperatures and day after day after day of light breezes out of the south or southeast. Strange, too, because usually when the wind is out of the east or southeast, it will rain within a day or two and then then wind will switch.
But for the past month, it has been warm and with that slight south or east breeze, and no rain at all.
Sunday afternoon, the sky began to cloud over -- and then the wind picked up. I decided about 5:30 to go out for a walk up the dirt road, just to see if some of the trees are starting to turn colors. It really didn't seem all that windy when I started out. Yes, the wind was blowing out of the west at maybe 15 or 20 mph, but nothing drastic.
The farther I walked up the dirt road, the harder the wind blew. When I had gone three-quarters of a mile to the corner, where there are woods on both sides of the road and the road turns toward the west again, that's when the wind really kicked up.
As I walked along, gusts of wind roared through the trees overhead. And that's when I heard it. A loud crack and then the sound of a falling tree. A tree had blown down in the woods.
"Maybe," I said to myself, "I ought to turn back now."
I turned around and started walking toward home again, and the wind blew harder. I heard more creaking from the trees around me and the sound of a loud crack and a crash several other times.
Before I left the house, I had debated about going the other direction to the west. Along the blacktop portion of the road, there are no trees right beside the road. And certainly not arching over the road the way they are along the dirt road.
With the wind roaring overhead, I walked back toward home as quickly as possible. Every time a particularly strong gust of wind came along, I watched the trees right in front of me. If one started to topple over, would I be able to get out of the way fast enough?
I had gone not quite a quarter of a mile when another strong gust came along.
All at once, a dead tree about 10 feet in front of me crashed to the ground. No warning "crack" -- no creaking. Just CRASH! Right in front of me. The tree was big enough that it stretched most of the way across the road.
I really had no idea that a tree could fall that quickly -- either a dead tree or one that is alive.
I tried to walk faster, and now, whenever the wind gusted, I really kept a sharp eye out on the trees next to the road.
When I finally reached the Y where you can go either east, away from our house, or west toward our house, I saw two more trees down over the road -- both of them dead trees.
I was glad to make it back to the house in one piece.
Later on, Randy told me that he debated about getting in the truck and coming to look for me when the wind kicked up. He wondered, though, if he would be able to get through if trees were down over the road, and as it turned out, there *were* trees over the road. He had stayed home from the walk because he really isn't feeling all that great after his surgery on Thursday.
Randy says he cannot describe it as outright pain but more as severe stiffness that prevents him from moving around very much or reaching for anything or turning his head. I am emptying the drain bulb twice a day, and it seems as if the drainage is somewhat less although not enough at this point that they would want to take drain tube out. He has been trying to rest and not move around too much. He goes back to the doctor on Tuesday.
LeAnn R. Ralph