Flux

The horses insist upon staying in the barn during the day, as the July heat and humidity put the horse and deerflies into overdrive. It was 80 degrees (this is the "cool" part of the day), with 80% humidity when I made it out the house this morning .  The cows stay in a dark corner of the barn as well, against the cooler stone foundation and away from the biting flies.  Evenings offer some relief, but the mosquitoes come out then.  They're less annoying to the animals than the big 1" long horseflies, apparently.

Our second cutting of hay should be ready, but was stunted by weeks of 90 degree heat, a lack of rain, and a good infestation of leaf-hoppers such that it hardly looks to be worth cutting.  Now we're getting some decent rain, but I can't cut it until the forecast clears up for a few days so it can dry.  I'm not looking forward to working the horses in this heat -- hopefully that will subside as well.

As is now an annual summer tradition, I'm again fantasizing about someplace cooler than SW Michigan.  This year it's the NE corner of Minnesota, up between the Boundary Waters Canoe Area and the north shore of Lake Superior.  There are lots of little cabins along the "Gunflint Trail" (Hwy 12) that runs from Grand Marais up to the boundary waters.  Looks like a neat area, at least so long as I ignore the many photos of people there wearing face-coverings to keep the clouds of mosquitoes and blackflies at bay.  I've always felt that it's much easier to deal with cold weather than it is with heat, but maybe living at -30 F would change my mind about that.  I do like the idea of snow sticking around for most of the winter and accumulating more than a few inches at a time.

I also like the idea of using a canoe for transporting things.  Unlike horses, there's no need to shoe or feed them, and I've never heard of a canoe freaking out and running off for any of the reasons that horses seem to find in abundance.  Better yet, they don't kick!

Now that I'm among the many covid-unemployed, it feels like we've done the right thing in remaining debt free and living where we can produce our own food and fuel.  Aside from summer, it's even a nice place weather-wise.

I had a job interview last week which seemed to go well, but haven't heard anything back on it yet.  I think the competition is pretty fierce these days.  I'm by no means convinced that the "normal" economy is ever going to return, but I've been thinking that for many years now while it's been sputtering along to my amazement.

Despite an initial failed planting and lots of deer damage, our one acre field of open-pollinated corn (Krugs 90-day) seems to be doing alright.  My two cultivations with the horses went very well, and with a couple passes of the hoe, the rows look pretty good now.   The deer (despite soaking the seeds briefly in kerosene -- an old practice that was apparently common in the days before commercial seed) and birds like to pull up the young shoots to pluck the seed off.  Lately, the deer have been breaking the stalks in half to eat the tender meristem, so I've been making evening visits to scare them off.  There are definitely parts of the field which are more or less failed, but the majority is now head-high and thick enough to keep the weeds at bay.

I find myself stuck (particularly on the really hot days) in a state of flux; not quite sure where I should be focusing my efforts, so I continue as I've been doing, working a bit until the heat becomes too much, at which point I find myself retreating indoors to sit with a popsicle and a laptop checking out cooler places to live.  Then when I get disgusted with myself for spending too much time online, I go back outside to tackle another project.  Rinse and repeat...