Petunias Equal Safety

I stopped at my local grocery store on the way home tonight to get bananas. Outside the store they have a raised flower bed full of petunias of all varieties. They had lots of the star flowered petunias mixed in with the solid color petunias. There is something about petunias that brings me back in time, especially if there is a lot of colors and the star petunias are in the group. I remember as a child putting my nose into the center of a petunia blossom and breathing in and feeling the flower petals clasp my nostrils until I exhaled. I would rotate the neck of the flower between my fingers and feel the stamens move against each other. I felt safe. I have pink double flowered petunias in flower boxes on my deck. They don't have the same effect on me as the old fashioned petunia patch.

Wild Grapes, Wild Snakes

Blunder and I were walking around our block tonight when I noticed the fruit on the vine. Grape vines are so heavy with fruit this year that they are pulling some trees down onto the road. There is one grapevine hanging so low over the road we have to walk out into the road to avoid grape clusters in the face. There are enough grapes, just on our block, to make a batch of grape jelly. Tempted as I am, I am not going to make grape jelly. I have already made two batches of jelly from hand picked fruit this year: raspberry and chokecherry. Plus I really have never liked grape jelly. My favorite jelly or jam is peach or apricot followed by raspberry and strawberry. I bought pineapple jam once. A friend of mine was searching grocery stores because her sister was dying and wanted pineapple jam on toast before she died. I thought it must be good stuff to be this woman's dying wish. But no, pineapple jam and grape jelly won't be on my list of things to eat before I die. I prefer grapes whole. Crisp green grapes are my favorite. As I walked by the grapes on the road tonight, I encountered a garter snake crossing the road. I didn't scream. Usually I let out a small involuntary scream when I see snakes but not this time. This one wasn't sneaking up on me. This one was jaywalking across the blacktop. And it was only 8 inches long. I stopped. The snake stopped. He stuck out his tongue a few times at me. The dog chose this moment to do her business. The snake continued sidewinding across the road. The dog was doing her business in the grass while I stood patiently waiting with my plastic Kohl's bag in my hand. I can see the snake is going to slither just inches from the dog's face. As I contemplate what seeing a snake that close would do to my digestive system as a crucial time like this, I see the snake pass by unnoticed. I decide this is the best thing that could happen for the dog and for the snake.

Help Me Out Here!

My dog, Blunder, is blundering. She is driving me crazy. I want to tear my hair out. Ever since the nest has emptied, she has become less cooperative with doing her business. I don't have a fenced yard so I just can't let her out. She won't go if she is hooked up. So I have to hold the leash so she can go. She prefers to do her business on walks. She used to do her business when I stood on the sidewalk holding the leash. She would pace a few times, pick a spot,and then go. Now she paces and she paces. I swear last night I counted 150 paces back and forth and then she didn't go. I am loosing my patience. I don't have time to walk her 3 times a day. I mean, I choose not to take the time to walk her three times a day. I just want her to go and come back in. I praise her for going. I know I am missing something here. She's the dog and I am the human. Somehow I have created this problem. Any suggestions? Please email me. Thanks.

Say Good-bye to Summer

Say good-bye to summer because the season is finished. Fall doesn't officially start until 9/21 but for me, summer is over when the school buses start picking up kids. I hope you had a wonderful summer. I did. Summer is my favorite season. I enjoy hot weather and the freedom to wear minimal clothing. I enjoy the fruits of the summer season. Oranges and apples are good but peaches, plums, raspberries and strawberries are exceptional. I love tomatoes eaten right off the vine. I love corn on the cob and new potatoes. I love having the windows open and hearing the birds sing. I love driving with the windows down. I love seeing worms on the road after a hard rain. I love the smell of cut grass. I love the trees full of green leaves. I love being on a boat in the water. Summer is so comfortable and relaxing compared to other seasons. Summer is my true love.

Happy Labor Day

Happy Labor Day to all you working stiffs! I hope you feel appreciated for all the work that you do.

The Compass Plant

Yesterday I went on a ecological tour of the St. Olaf campus. They claim to be one of the "greener" campuses. I think they wanted to keep the parents busy so the kids could unpack. I saw the new wind turbine on campus. The turbine provides energy to the campus and sells some energy to the Northfield power grid. I was surprised by how much noise it makes. I have never been that close to a turbine before and I assumed they would be silent. I could hear the wind whistling through the blades. Each blade is hollow. The part of the blade where it joins the hub is large enough for a 6 foot tall person to walk through. Even though the three blades were slowly rotating, the tips of the blade go 186 mph. The wind turbine turns at wind speeds between 10 and 58 mph. It shuts down when the wind goes faster than 58 mph because it would be unsafe. The turbine rotates to face the wind. We walked through the prairie near the compost area. They compost the leftover food. That smell was nasty! Walking through the prairie, our guides showed us bluestem grass, Canadian rye grass, and several examples of the compass plant. I had never heard of a compass plant before. The leaves of the plant are a little thick but flat and prickly - sort of like a super thin cactus leaf. The leaves arrange themselves north and south so that one side of the leaf catches the morning sun and the other side of the leaf catches the afternoon sun. The north/south accuracy is greater in the spring. By late summer, the wind has twisted the plant around. Some of the compass plants get to be 5 or 6 feet tall. The flowers were all dried up and brown but you can see by the picture that they are yellow. The flowers resemble sunflowers. The roots go down as far as 10 feet into the soil. I think it is fascinating how plants move toward the sun. I think compass plants and sunflowers blur the line between plants and animals. Plants by definition are not supposed to have voluntary motion or locomotion.

Empty Nest as of Today

Offspring #2 has left the nest.

Dixie Chicks Lyrics
Wide Open Spaces Lyrics
Who doesn't know what I'm talking about

Who's never left home, who's never struck out

To find a dream and a life of their own

A place in the clouds, a foundation of stone

Many precede and many will follow

A young girl's dream no longer hollow

It takes the shape of a place out west

But what it holds for her, she hasn't yet guessed

[Chorus:] She needs wide open spaces

Room to make her big mistakes

She needs new faces She knows the high stakes

She traveled this road as a child

Wide eyed and grinning, she never tired

But now she won't be coming back with the rest

If these are life's lessons, she'll take this test

[Repeat Chorus]

She knows the high stakes

As her folks drive away, her dad yells, "Check the oil!"

Mom stares out the window and says, "I'm leaving my girl"

She said, "It didn't seem like that long ago"

When she stood there and let her own folks know

[Repeat Chorus]

She knows the highest stakes

She knows the highest stakes

She knows the highest stakes

She knows the highest stakes