Buffalo Gal

We are in the Dog Days of August for sure.  The skies above us can only be described as "brassy"  or  "Hot".  There is a different color to the August skies.  We can only remember the pure blue of the May-June skies. 

Yesterday and the day before, the winds were blowing akin to California’s Santa Ana winds that are responsible for spreading a lot of dry-grass fires in the hills where homes should never have been built in the first place.  I can understand how the pioneers who first settled this area feared the hot August days when a lightning bolt could start a fire on the Prairie where the grass was thick and high and perfect material for setting ablaze.

During the days of Hot Winds and Brassy Skies, there is plenty of harvest dust in the air as well as many kinds of pollen being spread abroad by such plants as Goldenrod and Ragweed. Our hills are covered with Goldenrod.  I learned last week from my neighbor that Goldenrod is the state flower of Nebraska.  In honor of her native Nebraskan parents, she planted goldenrod in a flower bed that is very close to her bedroom window.  Now she understands why sleeping with an open window at this time of year is causing a lot of sneezing and snuffling and sinus miseries.  Live and learn, she says.  She is new to being a "country woman"!   Moved here from Minneapolis two years ago and is loving country life!

I have spent a lot of time under the Hot August Skies even if it is rather uncomfortable. The winds were so fierce that I could see my vine crops wilting under its influence.  I have been out with hose and watering wand fighting against the effects of the Hot August Winds recently. I cannot let my "decorator pumpkins" go dry and wilty….there are 3 or more huge and healthy looking "Cinderella" pumpkins;  several blue / green  pumpkins (Once In A Blue Moon variety);  some "Spooky’s" (pure white pumpkins);  the Turk’s Turbans squash are appearing and I think there is even hope for a few  apple-green Birdhouse Gourds.  I have to keep them watered and fed to encourage them in spite of the Brassy Hot Skies and Winds that August keeps bringing.  Yesterday in the high winds (40 mph or more…that would have been a blizzard in January!!)  the raspberry bushes looked like they had been turned inside out in the wind….the backs of their leaves are silvery and that is all you could see all day.

The Wild Flower seeds I planted hopefully in May are in their full glory and the prettiest of all is a flower called "The Rose of Sharon".  It looks like small bright pink hollyhocks on a leafy bush and they last and last—- and even  in a  vase of water.  Not all wild flowers do that…they usually do best in their garden bed.  The delicacy of some of the wildflowers is amazing…they look like pieces of lace in pretty pastel hues.  I do not know what they are, but they are elegant.

The carrot seeds I thought the Cat had dug up in June are up and growing after a VERY slow start…I think I shall taste fresh garden carrots after all.  There is no taste like a fresh carrot dug up from rich black soil….unless it is a fresh green bean or a fresh tomato!!! I am eating cucumbers and green peppers and Kale salad every day now.  I am getting so healthy from all this, I probably will have to drink a fifth of whiskey and smoke a pack of Camels to offset the healthy Kale, Peppers, Cukes and Tommy-Toes!!!

I am enjoying the Hot Brassy Skies of August and all that goes with them.  Sitting in my little cabin yesterday, the high winds were actually a boon in keeping the little "Hytte" comfortable.   My grandkids were with me and all of us spent time reading and lounging. 

Only two more days left in this Dog Days month.