Journal: Hay! And Quilts, Of Course.

 

During the last week as I listened to and read online news about the Nebraska wildfires, I saw quite the comments on some of those fire pictures and videos:  

“This should take care of the cedar problem!”

“Calm down everyone; it’s just grass.  It’ll grow better than ever!”  (Never mind what the cattle, sheep, goats, horses, etc., are going to eat in the meantime.)

“It’s Nebraska.  There are no towns or farms in the west.”  🙄

As for the ‘grass grows better after a fire’ theory, that might be true in some places, but not necessarily in the Sandhills, which consist of fragile sand dunes covered by a thin layer of soil and grass.  They can wind up with shifting sand dunes and no prairie grass at all, for possibly two or three years.  Cheatgrass might grow instead of prairie grass, but it harms domestic animals and wildlife (specifically, mule deer and pronghorns) by destroying sagebrush habitat, reducing food and cover, and ... here, I’ll copy and paste from usgs.gov.:  ... “by creating a destructive fire cycle that decimates native plant communities, negatively impacting species like mule deer, sage grouse, and pygmy rabbits through poor nutrition and habitat loss, leading to population declines and ecosystem collapse.  Its rapid growth chokes out nutritious native plants, and once mature, its sharp awns (we called them ‘pokies’, when I was little) become undesirable or even harmful to grazing animals, while its abundance fuels hotter, more frequent wildfires.”

Fortunately, there is a brighter side, especially with some snow or rain – and there will probably be some snow within a couple of weeks.  Grassland is highly resilient, generally recovering to pre-burn vegetation levels within two growing seasons following a wildfire, even during drought conditions.  While initial green-up occurs quickly, full stabilization and recovery of total herbaceous biomass usually take up to three years. 

The vast underground root systems of native prairie grasses are rarely destroyed by fire, enabling rapid regrowth.  Studies show that plant communities in burned areas are nearly indistinguishable from unburned areas after two years, with no significant long-term change in species composition.  Although sand can drift immediately after a fire, the surviving roots prevent long-term destabilization.  The speed of recovery can be enhanced by moisture, though the prairie often recovers even in dry periods.  Trees are another matter, of course.

To this goal, ranchers with irrigation pivots have been keeping them on.  Pivot irrigation systems and water hoses helped save some homes and buildings last week; but the massive scope of the fire, driven by high winds, saw widespread destruction of grazing land, fencing, stored hay – and irrigation pivots.  Rebuilding ranchers’ irrigation systems will be a major long-term recovery effort, and relief funds are accepting donations to help with these types of losses.

Late Tuesday morning, about 11:30 a.m., it was 23°, felt like 0°, and was snowing.

I did some housecleaning, showered, ate breakfast, made a fresh jug of cold brew, and spent the rest of the day sewing. 

By the middle of the afternoon, the snow had stopped.  We didn’t even get enough to coat the ground.  The fires to our west and northwest were still burning out of control.  But people from all over the Midwest were already donating hay and feed for the animals, and fence posts and fencing for the ranchers whose fencing had gotten all burned up.

The bird feeders were busy – there were red-winged blackbirds all over them.  A lone starling tried grabbing a beakful of suet, and was promptly fended off by a red-wing who did not wish to share.  The red-wings seem to like suet and black-oil sunflower seeds equally well.

By a quarter after 7, twelve Star Crossed blocks were done.  There  were four more to go.

A cousin asked the same old question as usual, though slightly rephrased:  “Do you ever get tired of working on a quilt before it is done.”  (She leaves a question mark off of this particular sentence, evidently thinking it to be more of a statement than a question.)

I gave the same old answer as usual, though I, too, slightly rephrased it:  “No, I enjoy all the steps of quilting, from designing to the final stitch on the binding.  And particularly, I then enjoy giving it away.  This one is for Joseph and Jocelyn, and I want to give it to them on Joseph’s birthday on April 24^th.  Don’t know if I can get it done that fast, though.”

I should whip up a quick quilt for this cousin one of these days.  I know for a fact she likes the quilts I make.  She’s in a nursing home, so if I do that, I’d better make sure the label with her name on it is sewn on good and tight, in case someone else likes it, too.

For supper that evening, we had Wood-Fired Roasted Garlic & Rosemary Chicken Pizza by Bettergoods Foods.  Mmmm, good stuff.

That evening, Hannah told me that a preacher friend of ours from Broken Arrow, Oklahoma, Daniel Chamberlin, had fallen while cutting a tree.  He had broken his arm and his back, and would be needing surgery.  They had him in a restrictive back brace that prevented him from moving, as they feared vertebrae could press into the spinal cord and possibly cause paralysis.  Pastor Chamberlin gave a message at our church on Christmas Eve.  His son is married to one of our nieces, and they have two children.

Here’s one of the Morrill Fire stories I read that day, along with a couple of ‘before’ and ‘after’ shots.  This was a very close call:

Dusty Wilson, an Arthur County rancher, is used to prairie fires in the Nebraska Sandhills.  But he has never seen anything like the Morrill Fire.  The fire burned countless acres of his land, the Wilson Flying Diamond Ranch.  But the hardest loss, he said, was learning of Rose White’s death as she attempted to flee the fire.  Wilson grew up just miles from White.

Wilson’s wife and children evacuated first.  He stayed behind with his 86-year-old father, trying to move cattle to safety.  When they finally attempted to leave, they found the fire had jumped the road ahead of them, cutting off their exit.  With nowhere else to go, they retreated to a meadow and drove toward a windmill surrounded by a wide sand perimeter, hoping the flames would not cross.

“We just parked the pickup and sat and waited,” Wilson said.  

The sand kept the fire back as it moved around them, sparing their homes and cattle.

The Wilson family has ranched the land for five generations and has seen fires before, including smaller grass fires and a shop fire.  But the Morrill Fire’s size and the speed at which it moved was unlike anything they had ever experienced.

“Never seen a fire of this scope, this size, this devastation, and the speed at which it traveled,” Wilson said.

With some areas still smoldering, Wilson is focusing on what the fire did not take:  his family, their structures, and their cattle.  “There will be rain again someday, and this grass will green up,” he said, “but the damage will not be repaired overnight.”

Support showed up quickly, from first responders on the fire line to neighbors and ranchers offering donations and asking how to help.

Wednesday was a warm, sunny day – 61° in the morning, on the way up to 77°.  Reckon Larry would remember that he still needed to order and install a new air conditioning compressor in the Mercedes, when we headed off to church in a hot vehicle that evening?

Answer:  Yes, he did remember.  And promptly forgot until the next day.  But he got it ordered, and we were surprised when it arrived Saturday, just two days later.  He got it mostly installed, but still needs to add the Freon.

Hester sent me this vital question that afternoon:  “Why do cats only throw up on carpet and rugs?  I just stepped in it on the way out the door. 🫣😼”

“Oh, yikes,” I commiserated.  “You’re describing a good deal of my life:  Wake up, get kids bathed, dressed, fed, go take a bath, come out all squeaky clean – and step in cat throw-up.  On the carpet.”  After a moment’s thought, I added, “Maybe they do it there because it soaks into the rug, and doesn’t flow back onto their nice clean fuzzy slippers?”

“LOL!” responded Hester.  “I never thought of that.  Kinda makes sense.” 😹

 Thursday morning, Hannah texted, “Both of my Flexi Clips (the ones she made when they attended the Lilla Rose meeting and tour in Los Angeles a few weeks ago) made it to the top 9!  We Reps get to vote in two separate rounds to eliminate 6 of them.  Then the public will vote on the last 3.  I chose the top one as my favorite.”

“I thought they would!” I told her.  “They’re both extra pretty.”

I had a little more than two blocks to put together, and I would be ready to start on the sashing for the Star Crossed quilt.

It was sunny and 67°, heading for 83°.  Out west where the fires were, it would get up to 87°, and even hotter through the next few days.  That wouldn’t be at all nice for the firefighters.

The biggest fire, the Morrill, was at 643,074 acres; but it was finally 67% contained.

The next biggest, Cottonwood Fire, was at 128,036 acres, and 78% contained.

The Road 203 Fire, at 35,913 acres, was 76% contained.

And the Anderson Bridge Fire, 17,400 acres, was 60% contained.

We haven’t smelled any smoke at all from these fires, as the wind has been from the southeast for at least a week.

I turned on the air conditioner that day – but the compressor did not come on.  This always gives me a sinking feeling, especially after last year when the air conditioning went kaput during the hottest part of the summer – first in the house, and next in the car.  But Larry obligingly went out and pushed the red ‘Reset’ button on the outside unit, and the compressor kicked in, and was soon blowing cool air throughout the house.

We had a venison roast, potatoes, and carrots baked in the Instant Pot for supper that night.

Friday morning, it was 70° by a quarter after 11, on the way up to 87°.

There was a Northern flicker thumping away at the suet feeder, and the usual diners were keeping him company:  Red-winged blackbirds, American goldfinches, House finches, English sparrows, Blue jays, Eurasian collared doves, Mourning doves, Northern cardinals, Dark-eyed juncos, Downy woodpeckers, Common grackles, European starlings, and the occasional Red-breasted nuthatch, White-breasted nuthatch, and Red-bellied woodpecker.  American robins farther out in the lawn were hunting down insects and worms.  There must be a different menu in the front yard, because out there I’ve seen Harris’ sparrows, White-crowned sparrows (migrants), and Chipping sparrows (which have decided to nest here).

I had half a block to finish, and then I would start on the sashing for the Star Crossed quilt.  By 3:30 p.m., all 16 blocks were done.  I posted this picture on some Facebook quilting groups to which I belong, and soon got the expected responses:  “It’s best without sashing!”  “No sashing!  You’ll ruin it!”  “You mean ‘borders’, not ‘sashing’, don’t you?!”

This, without even knowing what the pattern looks like.  🙄

4½ hours later, all the sashing and cornerstone pieces were cut:  40 irregular hexagons and 160 skinny triangles.  Here’s a screenshot from EQ8 showing the sashing and cornerstones.

Supper that evening was baked potatoes, carrots, and broccoli; peach mango juice; and cherry pie with whipped cream.

By late morning on Saturday, it was 77°, on the way up to 96°.  Quite unusual for this time of year in middle Nebraska.  I cut my hair, shined up the bathroom, washed some dishes, and retrieved the small, contour bathroom rug from the dryer.  The bigger, softer white rug, which some of my offspring’ns gave me for Christmas, went upstairs to the little library instead of into the bathroom, because Larry simply cannot refrain from walking on it with dirty boots.

If I ever say, as he comes in the door, “Take off your boots!  I just mopped! (or swept or vacuumed)”, he’ll look down at those obviously filthy boots, and say, “They’re not dirty!”  ((pause))  “Not on the bottoms!  I haven’t walked in anything!”

Actually, he’s walked in anything.  Everything.  And the tops and sides of the boots are every bit as dirty as the bottoms.  Good grief.

I started sewing triangles to hexagons for the sashing.  Finding I wouldn’t have enough background fabric for the first pieced border, I ordered more from Marshall Dry Goods.  It should be here by the time I need it.

Here’s a photo of some of the hay- and supply-hauling trucks that have been rolling through town on their way west.  These are donations from ranchers in states far and near for Nebraska ranchers who have lost grazing grassland, fencing, etc.

A loaded semi may carry 28 tons of hay, mostly alfalfa.  Today’s market price of alfalfa is $80-$100 a ton.  Each semi is dropping off a donation of around $2,500.  Officials are trying to keep a somewhat accurate count on how many loads of hay have been dropped off.  As of Friday, it had easily surpassed 250 drops.  That equals a hay value of $625,000.  This doesn’t touch the donated trucks, fuel, labor, and more.  And the loads keep on coming.

Anybody who thinks Nebraska (or Kansas, or Oklahoma, for that matter) is flat should see the hilly, jagged area, fraught with canyons and arroyos, that the firemen have to cope with.  It’s a dangerous job.  One crew at an earlier wildfire on the Kansas/Oklahoma line were trying to drive across a pasture to get to the flames, but weren’t able to see where they were going because of dense smoke.  They went over the edge of a deep gully and overturned the truck, injuring the three crew members.  Luckily, some of their fellow firefighters realized they were missing and went back for them – just in time, as they were being rapidly overtaken by flames.  Their truck was destroyed by fire.

When it rains in the Sandhills in the springtime, there are usually flowers all over the place, mixed in with the prairie grasses.  There won’t be nearly as many flowers as usual in Morrill, Garden, Keith, and Arthur Counties this spring.

I went out to get the bird feeders Friday evening – and discovered that the Little brown bats are back.  Furthermore, they were mighty curious as to what in the world I was doing with the bird feeders.  I thought I’d heard those things squeaking in the ceilings above my quilting studio – and I was right!  🤪

Later that night, I heard this encouraging news about Brother Chamberlin:

“Back surgery finished.  All went well!  Nerves unpinched.  Bone decompressed and fragments removed.  Rods and screws added with bone fusion.  Arm surgery yesterday went well.  He is resting comfortably now.  Thank you for praying!”

Larry brought home Mexican food for supper that night.  Mmmmm, it was good.

When I went out to rehang the bird feeders at 7:30 a.m. Sunday morning, I discovered it was “Willy whewy!” out there, as Victoria said when she was just 14 months old, and we nearly got blown off our pegs one windy day.  It was 42° on the way up to 50°, and the wind was already blowing at 36 mph.

After our morning service, Robert told us that Brother Chamberlin had been up and walking, just holding his wife Susan’s hand for balance.  We were relieved and gladdened to hear such good news.

That evening, we had a baptismal service, starting with a number of verses about baptisms recorded in the Bible.  There were 37 young people baptized.  I believe that may have been our biggest baptismal service.

Hannah asked us to stop by and pick up a package of kolaches she got for us at her vendor event Saturday.  There were six in the package, all different flavors.  We divided a couple and shared them after supper, which was leftover Mexican food.  Here are the various flavors:  Blueberry, Cherry, Lemon, Bavarian Creme, Apple, and Poppyseed.  Yummy! 

At 10:30 a.m. this morning, it was 35°, bright and sunny.  Our high was 48°.  After a shower, I shined up the bathroom, then blow-dried and curled my hair while sipping Red Velvet/White Chocolate cold-brew coffee.  The drying and curling doesn’t take nearly so long after I’ve cut my hair.

22 semis loaded with hay and supplies went through Columbus... yesterday, I think; and 28 went through this morning.  

As of Friday, over 850,000 acres had burned.  The fires are now mostly contained.  Two more started yesterday, but were quickly contained.

Perspective:

- Rhode Island is around 677k acres (land only, not including water surfaces)

- Rocky Mountain National Park is 266k acres

- The city of Los Angeles is roughly 321k acres

Too bad we can’t have some of Hawaii’s excess of ‘Kona Lows’ rains!

One of today’s 28 truck drivers called KTIC radio – the Rural Radio station I like to listen to in the mornings – and requested C. W. McCall’s song ‘Convoy’ to be played. 

Trivia:  C.W. McCall (born William Dale Fries, Jr.) lived and worked in Omaha, Nebraska, for many years.  He moved there from Iowa in 1950, working as a TV designer at KMTV and later as a creative director at the Bozell & Jacobs advertising agency, where he created the C.W. McCall character for Old Home Bread commercials in the 1970s.  His commercials were so successful, it turned into a country music career. 

We were once in Ouray, Colorado (the San Juan mountain range there, part of the Rocky Mountain chain, is called ‘The Swiss Alps of North America’), exploring the town – and were quite surprised to happen onto C.W. McCall’s beautiful home, tucked into the side of the mountain.  He called his home ‘The Treehouse’.

I just had a piece of Mozzarella string cheese for my afternoon snack.  I’d have liked some Chicken in a Biskit crackers to go with it; but I had a little more than usual for breakfast, so forewent the crackers.

Okay that wasn’t enough, so I had a few strawberries, too.

Oh, look!  There’s a brown-headed cowbird on the back deck, all mingled in with the common grackles and the red-winged blackbirds!  Brown-headed cowbirds are parasite birds.  That is, they lay their eggs in other birds’ nests, and off they go again, leaving those other birds to care for eggs and hatchlings.  Sometimes the young cowbirds wind up much bigger than their foster parents.  Here’s the variety of funny sounds a cowbird makes:  Cowbird Calls

There are half a dozen female red-winged blackbirds out there, too, which is unusual, as they generally prefer weed seeds to the corn and sunflower seeds their mates like best.

Now to get back to the Star Crossed quilt.  I was sort of wanting to custom-quilt it; but I don’t know if I have time for that.  I do have a lot of very pretty pantographs.  

I already have 111 hours in the quilt.  Those paper-pieced blocks seemed simple, but they took a while!  The sashing looks a little tricky, but it’s going fast.  I’ll remove the newsprint paper after the first border is on.

Th-th-th-th-that’s all, folks!

,,,>^..^<,,,          Sarah Lynn          ,,,>^..^<,,,