A MATTER OF COMPARISON

    I've been watching the progress and madness  of hurricane Florence. There is a tremendous amount of fear and uncertainty. They're not sure where the storm is going and what it might do next.

    It must be terrifying to go through this ordeal knowing that you are completely out of control. 

    36 inches of rain in three days? Unimaginable! 3 inches of rain per hour? Where would it go? 

     If I make some comparisons of where I live you will understand why it's difficult for me to understand about that much rain.

     Here we have annual precipitation of 12 - 14 inches per year. With the type of crops we grow and the method of farming we use we are a very productive agricultural area. 

    Our subsoil is clay and it goes down a long way before we hit rock. You know that water doesn't go through clay. Very little of our precipitation goes into the subsoil. This area is flat. Water comes down and it can't really go anyplace. Very little drainage takes place and what does take place is very slow. 

     We have had years with more than 20 inches of rain. It gets incredibly wet and in some areas very little crop can be planted.

     So I realize that the people under Florence's grip are suffering and will suffer much hardship. We can only wish that the ordeal comes to an end and that people can then put their lives back together.

Behind the sign you see a lush crop of grain.

SURPRISE! SURPRISE! I'VE GOT SNOW

     You can't say I wasn't warned. Snow has been in the forecast for a few days.  Last night it snowed and this morning we woke up to 3 -4 cm on the ground. Other places got more snow. It was minus 4 C (24 -25 F).

     It's not unusual for us to get a Sept. snowstorm. It can clear up nicely and we get pleasant fall weather.

     Our gardens and plants? They have been finished for a while . They are still green but are not functioning .  This will fix the green for this year.

          Now I worry about the people facing hurricane Florence. I wish them safety.   I will keep my snow anytime and not complain about it.

SATURDAY MORNING BIRDING

     For six months of the year I lead a Saturday morning bird watching group. We pick a spot in town or a short way out of town and spend two hours seeing what bird life is out there. I have 25 people who participate and from 10  to 15 attend each Saturday.

     The group is mixed with a few elderly and then most others are of working age. It's surprising when new people show up and say they've always birded but wanted to bird with a group. Most of the time they are excellent birders.

      Saturday , Sept 8 we went to a location called Nova Nature Trail.

     We have several large petrochemical plants here , one of them being Nova. Nova was built in the seventies and has expanded several times since. Now when large plants are made they buy a lot of land near them. They rent it back to the farmers.

     That's where the Nova Nature Trail comes in. The 255  acres was probably rented out for pasture. The company decided to make the land into a nature trail. They've done an excellent job. There are 10 to 15 km of trails The habitat varies from grass to brush to trees and  riparian.  There is a sleepy little stream the goes through the property. Beavers like this so the dams make some excellent wetlands.

     Saturday was cloudy, a bit windy and 14 C. Nine of us went out and had a great time. We found 24 bird species The garter snake that one of us nearly stepped on was and extra.

     The following photos were taken by Lynette Asselstine  Braun.

Off we go

   Look in there!

Shoveller

The great blue heron surprised us and then came back to have a look at us.

A grove of aspen

 A general view of the area. The company has build great trails and walk ways near the wetlands.

   With many sets of eyes and some very competent birders we can find quite a few species

FALL BIRD MIGRATION

     Fall bird migration can be a very active time for birders let alone the birds. We are at 52 degrees latitude so there's a lot of territory north of us. We have one of the largest boreal forests north of us. The Arctic tundra and islands are also north of us, so with our local birds and those passing through, fall migration can be interesting if you're watching.

     What this post is about is the migrating birds in my yard and those in the neighborhood.

      This morning was a busy morning. Robins are in rough flocks. They are crazy. They chase one another at break neck speed. Once in a while one hits my window. Most of these are birds of the year and the red breast is frosted as we say. The red is quite dull and and more gray.

      Also this morning the Brewer's blackbirds were around in abundance. There are large flocks of mixed Brewers, rustys and grackles. This morning they helped themselves to the feeder and bird bath. Blackbirds seem to spend only a few days and then they are gone.

      There were a few chipping sparrows.

      Now I was so busy I didn't notice crows. There are very large flocks of crows...in the 1000's.

      There were smaller birds flying higher...above tree tops and I couldn't recognize them. They may have been vesper sparrows.

      Just when all this activity ended a flock of 11 geese flew over. Migrating geese can go through until Christmas. They just keep coming from the north.

      Now there are resident birds in the yard too. Chickadees, nuthatches woodpeckers, flickers and blue jays also visited this morning. 

     Since I was in the house I didn't take any photos. To be honest, I was so busy I didn't even think of a camera. Here are some photos from other years.

SCHOOL'S IN

      As most of you know I was a teacher  for 37 years all at the middle school level. I retired in 1997...21 years ago.

      Today public schools opened for business and welcomed all the customers.

      Do I feel a pang of excitement or loss at this time? Not really. The first year it seemed funny to be not going back.

      However , I do have memories of school opening time. As a student the first day of school was always exciting. We got to go back and play with kids. I'm not sure where the education part came in. I don't remember my first day of school. I had been to the school many times as  preschoolers  were invited for different days. Church and Sunday School were held in the school.

    My kids on a school starting day

One of my new gr 7 classes.

      Now the first day of school was much different when you were a teacher. I went back to the school for the last ten days of August to get ready for the year. You know...get the room set up, find the text books, make up unit plans, make up a yearly plan plan with other staff. This took time out of my summer but I always thought it was well worth it to be ready at the first day of school opening.

 I told you getting textbooks sorted out

     Now the first day of school was always exciting as the kids came back and they were swinging from the lights. I don't think it was excitement about seeing me or getting an education. They were excited about seeing each other and comparing all the classes they were in to see who they were with. Then they started to scheme and go to the office to get classes changed so they could be with their friends.

      The complete home home.

     Well another school opening has come and gone and I'm not really missing it.

     We live on a street that leads directly to the school. Usually there is a lot of traffic in the morning and afternoon when kids go to school. This morning there wasn't much for traffic. I wondered why? Later it hit me. There's road construction and the parents had to take a detour so they couldn't drive down my street.

VISITING WHILE CYCLING

       As many of you know I'm an avid cyclist. I've ridden about 45000 km since I started keeping track of the mileage.

      The crazy cyclist in 2008!

       When I first started riding, I put the pedal to the metal and rode as fast and far as I could. I did not stop on any of my rides. I didn't need to stop for a breather. I do remember one time when I had to stop. I ran over somebody's dog in an off leash park that the bike trail passed through.. I thought I'm in big trouble...angry dog owner and more. The dog owners just laughed and apologized  and said they had a very energetic untrained dog and that he got what he deserved.

      I have always said hi to people on the trail.

      The last few years I have slowed down and stopped at a bench for a breather. What I found is that some of the local residents stopped at the same bench so I got to know some people: a retired air force guy, retired RCMP, a lady who's had a major stroke and a lady with three dogs and a stroller for them. 

      This summer I met a woman who is going into a masters program. She worked for thirty years, retired and went back to school. She's an interesting character.

     Then there's my friend John. I taught with John and I knew he was an avid cyclist but when he retired he really surprised me. John has ridden to the tip of South America, through Greece and Italy, Israel, and India. He's done all these trips solo! 

      We have a young librarian who is super friendly and helps seniors with computers. She's taught me a lot. Yesterday she told me,"You know that I've known you all my life." She said , " My folks live in your subdivision and all the time I was growing up we saw this cyclist with the yellow helmet go by our house. We commented that the guy with the yellow helmet must be very dedicated. " She said , "The other day I discovered the dedicated cyclist with the yellow helmet was you!" As you can imagine we had a good laugh.

     So the social contact from cycling has been great and sometimes surprising.

MYSTERY PLANT.

     Garden to me is a vegetable garden. I love growing vegetables. I like to see the plants grow and develop. Best of all I like eating fresh produce.

     Gardens here get planted about mid May. 

     By the end of June most plants are well on the way . However, this year around the end of June I began noticing a plant that I thought I hadn't seeded. I knew it wasn't a weed. It looked like a cucumber plant but I didn't seed cucumbers. I didn't think it was a zucchini. 

     Fruit formed. It looked like cantaloupe but I didn't seed cantaloupe. As the fruit developed it became obvious that it was a cantaloupe. I was disappointed that the melons split and would not mature. I was surprised that they did as well as they did.

     So how did cantaloupe seeds get in my garden.  When we do a cantaloupe we throw the seeds in the compost. On one cantaloupe the seeds must have been mature enough the germinate. This has never happened before and we eat about one cantaloupe per month.