Sunday, June 21, 2009, 04:42
Where Have All the Fireflies Gone?
In years past, we always had a lot of fireflies here around Rural Route 2 in mid-June and on into July.
Fields where there was tall grass or pastures or hayfields or cornfields or marshes were always alive with thousands of tiny blinking pinpoints of light. Randy and I would go for walks when it was almost dark just so we could see all of the fireflies. Randy especially likes fireflies. His birthday is June 13, and when he was a kid, he could always count on fireflies for his birthday.
This year, I am lucky if I see one firefly when I go outside at night.
What has happened to all of the fireflies? I am hoping that their numbers are down only because it is dry and not because of something else more sinister. But I wouldn't be so sure. There's been a lot of talk on public radio lately about declining bumble bee and honey bee populations. Frogs are dwindling too. And so are bats. They are all apparently being struck by some kind of fungus that is destroying whole populations everywhere.
It was still hot and humid and sweltering here on Saturday. I have been spending quite a lot of time at the local 4-H and FFA fair taking pictures for the newspaper. The fair started Thursday and ends Sunday. By the time I get done wandering around in the heat and humidity, I am drained. Because we had such a long, cold spring here, I kept hearing people say, "Are we EVER going to get summer?"
Well, we've got it now. . .
LeAnn R. Ralph
Saturday, June 20, 2009, 05:03
Cool Spring to Sweltering Summer
I really was enjoying the cool spring temperatures, days when the high was in the 50s and the lows dropped into the 40s and sometimes the 30s.
Of course, the cool weather was not very good for the garden. Everything is either tiny or has not yet come up. At that rate, we would need an extended growing season well into November before I could hope to get a few tomatoes.
But -- the cool weather appears to be over for the time being. It has been sweltering hot and humid for the past couple of days. Highs well into the upper 80s with a dewpoint well into the 60s and about 90 percent humidity. We got some rain, too, this week -- one inch on one evening and two inches the next evening.
Personally, I wanted to declare a holiday. I can't remember the last time we got three inches of rain in two days.
Three inches of rain has not appeared to have too much impact on the drought though. One evening Randy and I went for a walk around the hayfield. A pocket gopher had been digging, and the mound was powder dry. That means the gopher was digging down into powder dry subsoil and pushing it to the surface. And that was AFTER three inches of rain.
Our little local fair in town started on Thursday. I have been taking pictures for the newspaper, and let me tell you, it has been a hot and sweaty experience. I feel drained at the end of the day from sweating so much.
I almost had an accident to report on Friday. One of the Angus steers in the beef cattle class was rather wild and wound up. He swung his rear end around and nearly trampled the judge, who had his back to the steer and was talking to the FFA advisor. Good thing the steer didn't knock him down. He's a stocky, square thing that's about as wide as he is tall. I guess the judge didn't hold it against the steer, though, because the steer ended up as Grand Champion.
LeAnn R. Ralph