Computers vs Reality

Weather: From Indian summer to winter solstice weather in two weeks. This week a cold front came through Thursday night, and the air temperature fell to 17 in the night. It rose before dawn, then dropped back to 21.

Another storm is forecast for tonight with even colder temperatures after. Clouds have been coming and going all day, with hard rain a little after noon. The moisture is a warning that makes the day feel ominous.

Last useful rain: 11/11. Week’s low: 17 degrees F. Week’s high: 62 degrees F in the shade.

What’s blooming: Hybrid roses in area, sweet alyssum, single flowers on plants in protected places

What’s still green: Juniper, arborvitae, and other evergreens, iris, red hot pokers, scarlet and blue flax, hollyhocks, winecup mallows, leather leaf globe mallow, beards tongues, snap dragon, golden spur columbine, bouncing Bess, pink evening primrose, vinca, coral bells, alfilerillo, green leaf five eyes, Saint John’s wort, cat mint, baptisia, violets, sweet pea, Queen Anne’s lace, alfalfa, Shasta daisy, Mexican hats, chrysanthemum, coreopsis, blanket flowers, anthemis, gazania, white yarrow, dandelion, purple and Mönch asters, June and needle grasses; new cheat grass emerging

Apache plume and cliff roses are behaving like evergreens; some leaves turn yellow then fall, leaving the rest.

What’s red or turning red and orange: Purple leaf plum

What’s yellow or turning yellow and orange: Broom snakeweed,

What’s gray, gray-green, or blue green: Four-winged saltbush, buddleia, pinks, winterfat, snow-in-summer, Silver King artemesia, golden hairy aster, chocolate flower

Tasks: The week of Indian Summer meant all the leaves fell at once when the temperatures turned cold. For the first time in years, there are piles of leaves in the drive. The leaves that didn’t turn color died this week, and remain on the cottonwood and black locust trees. I have no intention of raking them, even if were possible on gravel. They aren’t going to kill a lawn, and eventually will blow away

One tree that kept its leaves was the Siberian elm. When the leaves disappeared from other trees, it was possible to see all the places it had invaded without being noticeable during the summer.

Animal sightings: Small brown birds, earth worms

Weekly update: When I voted Tuesday in the local precinct, I was reminded again of the problems confronting areas that do not conform to big city patterns. We have no physical address, we have directions. I have a PO box, and had a hard time remembering by county road. Fortunately the poll worker was understanding; he said his physical has changed three times since the county started assigning building and road numbers (not streets with house numbers).

I’m sure one group that lobbied for the change was large service and delivery companies. Address meant they didn’t experienced drivers.

Whenever I call one and try to give them directions, they say it’s not necessary, the GPS will tell him where to go. I usually manage to get them to have the driver call when he’s in the area, so I can meet him at the road to open the gate. Inevitably, I watch him drive by and come back.

Many mail order nurseries that fill by box with catalogs refuse to ship to the box, because they give the lucrative business to UPS. If you want to start a friendly discussion with a stranger in this area, just mention a recent delivery problem and he or she will top you.

I wanted some lily bulbs and only one company has ever shipped ones that remained viable. Last spring I made arrangements with a friend in Santa Fé to have them shipped to him. Naturally, he told me his UPS story. The driver regularly confuses him with someone else, and the one calls the other when a package has been misdelivered.

When I didn’t get anything by the end of October, I assumed the nursery hadn’t shipped or the package had gone astray. But no, I got an email Friday night saying the package had arrived. Naturally, I didn’t get it until Monday, because there’s a built-in delay with UPS that doesn’t exist with the post office.

The nursery must have put the zip code into their database and come up with USDA zone 6. It wouldn’t have mattered if I had said a cold zone 5; the computer understands our needs better than we do. It also protects the company against people who genuinely don’t know, and removes one step from the order entry process.

Ahead of the Wednesday night cold front, morning temperatures were down to 23 on Tuesday and 22 on Wednesday. Even though I waited until late afternoon, the soil was wet and cold. I’m not sure if the worms were still active or just agitated when I uncovered them.

It didn’t take two days to plant the bulbs because I had ordered so many. My hands got cold. I went back out Thursday to lay some of those wire mesh screens over the bed. I had bought them early in the summer to protect the seedlings from the rabbit; now I wanted to make it harder for the ground squirrel to scavenge.

Notes on photographs: In addition to the murals on walls around Cook’s and Hunter’s old car business, individuals have landscapes painted on their own walls. Many try to recapture local farm life. This one is on private property in town. Pictures taken 19 August 2018.