The Heat Goes On

     "Drums keep pounding rhythms to the brain. La de da de de. La de da de da."  Sonny and Cher's "The Beat Goes On" came to mind when I was thinking that this heat and drought just keep on keeping on.  I looked at their lyrics.  Some things (like mini skirts and teenyboppers) are no longer the rage, but "men still keep on marching off to war" like they said. This weather photo was not from our region, but it sure felt like it could have been.  Although we only saw a few days this week up over 100 degrees.

     This image from the song "Half Breed" also jumped out at me while I was looking at my Google search, and I couldn't help but be struck by Cher's and the horse's beauty.  She was also definitely "hot" back in the day.  Today, I would hope her breeding (genetic heritage) would not be an issue for those like her in our society.

    I discovered that there are song titles, Blog posts, and even news articles with the same title I used.  The following information and photos were in the July 17th Minnesota Star Tribune article "The Heat Goes On": 

     In its monthly drought report, the National Climatic Data Center in Nasheville, N.C., said that 55 percent of the country was in a moderate to extreme drought at the end of June. The parched conditions -- affecting crops, pastures and range land -- expanded last month in the West, the Great Plains and the Midwest, fueled by the 14th-warmest and 10th-driest June on record, the report said.

     Stunted corn begins to shrivel in a field next to a cattle feed lot in rural Springfield, Omaha, Neb., Tuesday, July 17, 2012. The drought gripping the United States is the widest since 1956, according to new data released by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

     Boats rested on the bottom of a dry cove at Morse Reservoir in Noblesville, Ind.  The reservoir is down nearly 6 feet from normal and being lowered 1 foot every five days to provide water for Indianapolis.  Michael Conroy, Associated Press 
   
     Steve Niedbalski is seen chopping down his drought and heat stricken corn.  Around a third of the nation's corn crop has been hurt, with some of it so badly damaged that farmers have already cut down their withered plants to feed to cattle.

     Farmers aren't the only ones harmed by this heat and drought, but they are the most severely affected.  Their livelihoods are at stake.  One local hog producer said he will spend more on corn for his pigs than he will make on them when he sells them.  But what can he do?

     I found this baby barn swallow on the ground in the corn crib.  After taking it's picture, I returned it to its nest... although I had to look in these three nests to find siblings of similar size.



     I did not start the week out very well.  Monday morning I couldn't bump my walk up to a jog... just didn't have it in me.  I got our angry house cat and goofy dog loaded and took them to the vet, to discover I was an hour early.  I came home and did the same thing over again 45 minutes later.  I was five minutes early for my 11:00 appointment and it was 11:58 when the vet finally entered the exam room.  This is part of the reason I hate going to Dr's and Vets.

     Once home, I had a salad for lunch... and it wasn't long before a flood of GI pain and rumblings hit.  I was soon making multiple, and hurried trips to the rest room.  What had I eaten?  At one point, I seriously thought I might be dying.  Tiny made an appearance... she had to come for water.  Here is a good look at her and Buck Tooth Betty's messed up beak.

     It wasn't long before she sprinted back to the corn crib.












     Swallows on line.  This is right near the nest I had returned the baby to.  I checked on the ground for several days and never saw it again.

     Joe and I abstained from Growth Group because I felt so bad and he was still at work, and had to be back on line at midnight.  I did muster up the courage to leave the house (the Pepto-Bismol was helping) and take Dan and Valencia to the Replex (LeRoy fitness center).  We drove separate so I could come home early.  I swam some laps, dried off and headed home.  I had hot Cream of Wheat for dinner (even though it was nearly 100 degrees out) because that is all that appealed to me.  And I went to bed early. 

            Tiny with Babe and Stew.

     Tuesday morning I was feeling better.  The walk was not very energetic, and the heat was already melting me as I cleaned stalls.  I had saltine crackers for my second breakfast, because I was starting to feel a bit queezy.  I did get last week's blog finished and posted finally.  I only did the bare minimum in terms of chores, morning, noon and night.  Reading, playing Words with Friends, and taking a two hour nap was all I accomplished.  I did run (not literally) to LeRoy to pick up some groceries and pizza for dinner. 

     Wednesday was a busy, productive day.  After my usual morning routine, I went out to water the gardens and spray weeds in the round pen and drive way. 
   


     There has been an increase in activity over at Becks.  They are getting ready for their big "show" scheduled for Aug. 14th.  One worker had parked and was chopping weeds all along the tracks.

     I was at the dentist for cleaning at noon, shopped, brought home a bunch of groceries, unloaded and stowed them away, fixed lamb stew, and refreshed stock animals' water.  The lamb stew was okay, but not as good as the roast I had cooked a month ago.

     Thursday I walked around the perimeter of our yard and over at Becks because it was threatening to rain.

     Mid morning I brushed Roni and worked him in the round pen.  Then I rode him around here and over at Becks.  We got sprinkled on by a few rain drops.

      Because Abbey was asleep on my lap and I didn't want to disturb her, I took a nap here in my chair on the front porch after a late lunch.  Valencia and Dan played video games.


     I eventually ventured back outside and fertilized all my flowers, veggies, and new transplants.  During a late dinner, we got a short little storm.  It didn't last long or bring much rain, but boy was it refreshing... and did it ever make for a pretty sunset.















 

    













     I couldn't decide on a favorite photo, so I included several.  While out taking pictures, I also noticed that the horses had each rolled in the little bit of dirt that was made.  Here is Zorro.

     The front that brought rain, also brought cooler air and a nice breeze.
I did not follow my normal morning routine Friday.  The walk was cut short, and I only sat for a minute to have half a cup of tea.  Then I loaded Roni and headed to Lisa's. 

     I was there before 7am, and gave Roni a quick brushing to remove some of the mud from the night before.  Then we loaded him after Lisa's horse (Mark), and we were headed off to Danville.





     It rained just as we arrived, but had stopped by the time we looked around and got parked.  Saddle up your horses, we got a trail to ride.

     We crossed the Vermillion River (which was rather low) and rode along it for much of the ride. 



     Roni tended to crowd Mark, but otherwise
handled very well.



 
Roni loved splashing and playing in the river.


     Other than some horse flies, the trails were awesome.  There were some pretty good sized hills we went up and down.  We also crossed the river a second time.  It was nice that the horses could get a drink of cool, refreshing water. The temps were in the 80's but the horses still got hot going up and down the hills.

    
     We rode over two hours, took a short break, and then went back out for a short 30 min loop.  It was a beautiful day for a ride, even though we got sprinkled on twice while out riding.

     I was pretty tired by the time I got home at 2:00.  Stew had a late bottle.  I didn't do much the rest of the day, except watering chores.  Once Joe got off work for the week, we headed to the pool to relax, swim and cool off.  The Summer Olympics started so we sat and viewed that, fast forwarding the slow parts and commercials.

     Saturday morning I cleaned the paddock and corn crib along with the usual stall mucking.  Everything got a good watering as usual, and I weeded the rock garden.  I found a small pile of fresh corn over at Becks, dumped back by the huge pile of stinky soy beans we have smelled off and on all summer.

     Joe "harvested" the corn that we will feed the poultry and cows.  Betty was quick to inspect and help herself. 

     It was nice enough to work outside all day, but I lacked the motivation and energy to do so.  Joe had left to play cards just before lunch.  So, like always, Abbey joined me on the front porch to nap while I read my Bible and messed on the computer.

     I did go out and mow for two hours, getting the front ditch that had been taken over by weeds.  Courtney, Mike and their friend came by and I visited with them.  An intern working at Becks stopped to say they have a plot of
                                                     sweet corn that is ready for harvest,

and to help ourselves.  So Kaysha and I walked way back to I-74 where the plot was, and I brought home two ears, making for a perfect supper.  I played words with friends until Joe got home to run the TV so I could watch more of the Olympics.  Look at all these high point letters I had.  I played the word GYOZA with these, against Travis.

     Missy returning home with breakfast.  It was so cool this morning, I wished I had had a long sleeve shirt on while walking with Kaysha.  I did jog a short distance to try to warm up.  I think I need to take up biking or swimming for aerobic exercise.  This jogging is just too hard on my joints.

     While waiting for Joe to get offline with work, so we could go to Church together, I whittled away the morning working on this post, watching Olympics, and AIM chatting with Britney.

      We never did make it to Church because Joe worked till 10:30.  He cooked bacon and eggs with cheese for brunch and then went back to bed.  I went out to work with the horses.  I started with Amiga.  I think she liked the brushing and handling.  She did okay with ground work, although I am still not 100% sure of what I am doing.  I rode her for almost 15 minutes.  I didn't want anything more than a walk, but she kept wanting to gait.  She also kept turning in, coming off the rail of the round pen.  Not sure why, but I tried different techniques to keep her out on the rail.  She is very rusty!

     Roni was next, going through the same steps as Amiga, but I had him gait in the round pen as well.  And then we ventured to the exciting world beyond!  He was a joy to ride, with only a few times when he wanted to exert his will and test me.  We spent most of our time over at Becks.  Here is a picture of the sweet corn, down the middle of the photo.   I-74 is on the right and the taller corn on the left is field corn. 

     My sweet Amiga... the heat is on... I am going to start asking you to work for me, after taking 15 months off to let your legs heal.

     Joe and I went to the pool late in the afternoon to cool off and lounge in the sun.  I swam 10 laps today... slowly building on that.  It has cooled off considerably here in Illinois.  It did hit 90 today, but not for that long.  We are still in desperate need of water, as the drought situation escalates with each day we go without rain.   We have had 1.18 inches total in July, on five different days... just little showers really.  The drought goes on...