Yesterday's musings

Perhaps a recap of yesterday is in order. First; when I went to release the irrigation water, I found that the canal was empty! That was the first time I had ever experienced that. I came back home and paged the ditch tender and notified the users downstream. About 45 minutes later I heard a knock on the door and it was the tender, to tell me that all was OK now, that I could go back and open the gate. Only three of the six property owners were going to use water this morning as walnuts were dropping and harvesting had begun. Opening the gates is much more pleasant when the sun is up and you can navigate the path to the canal without fear of falling into the occasional valve box.

Then it was time to clean the wood stove. It will soon be chilly enough for us to use the furnace and since the price of natural gas is increasing, it looks like the wood stove will get a workout once more. I really don’t like a wood stove because of the mess it creates, and the chore of bringing in wood and starting fires is no longer on my list of things I enjoy.

Once the stove was sparkling again with a new coat of black paint and the bronze door all polished, it was time to clean the pool. That didn’t take long and I have to admit that I was tempted to jump in for a swim, despite the chill. I resisted the urge and even put the pool toys away. After all, it is almost October.

I also checked the orchard and it’s obvious that we will have a large crop of pecans, a favorite of mine. There are a lot of walnuts as well, but the worms have taken quite a few of them. Pomegranates are ripening quickly and it looks like one tree will produce a bumper crop. That is the one that I have props under some of the limbs. Persimmons? There might be half a dozen. A far cry from last year’s huge crop. All of the citrus looks good and the trees are heavy with fruit.

The day ended most pleasantly with a trip to Chico and dinner with our family. It was time to celebrate David's birthday and we enjoyed a Mexican dinner at El Patron...It was great to have the kids there, though Meghan was missing (soccer practice). Darn!

On the way home, there was an accident at 32 and Meridian, but since the emergency crews weren't there yet, (the helicopter was overhead) the delay was minimal. (no injuries)

All in all...a very nice day.