Before you pick up your phone to call me saying we’re best friends, I should clarify. The powerball is the ONLY number we hit… our ticket was worth $4.00.
Perry usually gets a couple quick-picks when the amount is incredibly high. We always say the same thing before checking our numbers — I figure about 90% of the population with a ticket says it too: “Let’s see if you (we) have to go to work tomorrow.” The answer is always yes, and it was yes again even after we hit the powerball. 🙂
Rain incoming… hummingbirds outgoing…
I’ve had a few straggler hummingbirds hitting up the feeder, but only a few. These last to leave are brave little suckers. They sit in the bushes and twitter around, usually feeding early evenings. I’ve only one feeder out now and I’m cleaning it long before it’s empty. Although I’m looking forward to the change of seasons, I’ll sure miss watching them.
Forecast calls for cool down.
We’re supposed to get some rain today and tomorrow, with a major cool down on the way. 90 degree days may be gone until next year.
Now you know: The Average weight for males in the United States ages 20 years and older is 199.8 pounds
Looking out across Mr. Farmer’s bean field has me wondering how long it will be before harvest. I’m no farmer by a long shot… I’m nothing more than a spectator. I love watching the planting and harvesting, and I see Farmer Rex every now and again spraying weeds on the boundaries so his fields look good.
Back in time…
I looked back at earlier posts here and was surprised at the difference in the view from today and from 2 years ago near the same time. So many more leaves on the ground at this time in 2023 — and the beans were harvested on October 3rd. (Corn was harvested in 2022 and 2024 near the end of October.)
Moving forward…
Who knows what the weather will do in the coming weeks or when harvest will come this year. The forecast for at least the next week is in the 80s with sunshine.
Florida weather is a little more uncertain, and we’re supposed to be there early to mid October. With Imelda and Humberto rolling around in the ocean looking at land to plummet, I hope it’s all clear — with no damage to life and property — before the 9th.
Now you know: During the Sylvester Stallone & Arnold Schwarzenegger rivalry in the 1980s, Schwarzenegger once tricked Stallone into doing the critically panned 1992 film “Stop! Or My Mom Will Shoot” by pretending that it was a brilliant movie and and that he was thinking of doing it himself.
Rural living is wonderful all year round, but especially when it’s warm enough to be outside — yet cool enough to be comfortable. Like late September in Indiana… like now.
Listening to birds sing during the daytime hours and crickets chirp at night is a gift, and I am grateful for it.
But someone didn’t get the memo.
There’s a person that lives down from the barndo on this dead-end road that doesn’t care about the peace and quiet the rest of us appreciate. Matter of fact, I’m not sure this person cares about living long either.
This person — I would say “dude” but don’t want to stereotype — rides a motorcycle to the highway and back to where ever the home base is multiple times per day. Not a big deal until you understand it’s WIDE OPEN THROTTLE. When I say that cycle likely reaches 100mph, I’m not exaggerating.
Rural living means lots of wildlife — big and small.
It wouldn’t take a deer sized critter to crack that rider… a squirrel would be all it would take to blast motorcycle and rider into oblivion. Sure, I worry about the children and pets that live out here, and I care greatly about peace and quiet. But that ain’t all…
It’s so bad — the motorcycle is going so fast — I literally cringe every single time I hear it rocket by the driveway. My fear is that it’s only a matter of time before a human body will need to be scooped off this chip and seal county road with a shovel. 🥺
Now you know: René Laennec invented the stethoscope in 1816 because he thought it was improper to press his ear on a woman’s chest and found that a tube let him hear heart and lung sounds more clearly.
Historical data from the Jackson County, IN, Visitor Center says typical timing for peak fall foliage around my slice of the world is mid-to-late October. The Farmers’ Almanac says peak fall foliage this year will arrive at different times across Indiana: October 15–25 in the north, October 25–31 in the central region, and November 1–10 in the south.
I’ll miss the green…
Vibrant fall colors on trees and shrubs are beautiful, but they simply don’t last long enough! Brown replaces oranges and reds in the blink of an eye and not long thereafter, there’s nothing left but sticks.
If that’s not bad enough, I have to find window spots for all the outside plants that thrive during spring and summer’s sunshine.
Top 6 Fall Foliage Destinations in Indiana
I ran across an article that listed the top 6 fall foliage spots in my Hoosier state. It was a bit of a surprise to me that Clifty Falls State Park in Madison, IN, ranked #1. I would’ve bet on Brown County State Park in Nashville, IN, but it didn’t make the list until #4. Turkey Run in Marshall, IN — a place I’ve never been — was ranked #2, and Spring Mill State Park in Mitchell, IN, came in at #3.
Now you know: The CIA used the song “The Real Slim Shady” by Eminem to psychologically torture inmates at a secret US prison. After 20 days of playing the song on repeat, one inmate described others as “screaming and smashing their heads against the walls.”
We’re down to just a few hummingbirds at the feeder now, and they are simply here to refuel and not stay for any length of time. Like an electric car, they need juice to continue on. Until the last week and a half, I was refilling feeders every other day or so. Now, I’m down to one feeder with only an occasional guest.
Fall loves rain, and we’re forecast to get plenty of it.
Every day this coming week has rain in the forecast. It’s already cooled down by 10° from yesterday, and temps will feel like fall this week if meteorologists are right. There’s now more brown than green showing in the bean field next door.
From local to world news…
There are protesters at the funeral for Charlie Kirk today in Arizona. Yes, seriously. There are people holding signs with ugly words — one huge sign is making multiple appearances and it says, “God is Your Enemy.” Even if your soul is so rotten you hate God, protesting or picketing a funeral is about as tacky as it gets.
As the camera scanned the protestors, I noticed one woman in a Cigna shirt, and another representing the democrat party with signage. There’s no way either that organization or that political party condone such hate.
Now you know: From 1867 to 1974, various cities of the United States had unsightly beggar ordinances, retroactively named ugly laws. These laws targeted poor people and disabled people, citing reasons such as deformities, visible signs of disease or mutilations to deny access to public spaces.
