Burning Down the Neighbor’s House – MEL Magazine

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Burning Down the Neighbor’s House – MEL Magazine

We called farmstead number five the Old Magie Place for the people who once lived there. (Locals also knew it as “Skunk Hollow.”) I never knew these particular Magies, but some of their relatives are still around, and are part of the nearby farming community of Healy, which is home to the smallest school district in the state of Kansas, with a high school enrollment of less than 25 students. The Magies had been gone for decades by this point (circa 2009), and their farm house had become a refuge for wild animals and trespassers looking to drink light beer and break shit. As such, there were little piles of crushed cans, liquor bottles and cigarette butts throughout.

Near the house was fencing around the gardens, which I ripped out with a loader tractor. I demolished the other small barns on the property partly by hand before bulldozing them into a pile to burn. The farm ground all around the house was fallow and not in use. We would till it up later, but first, the house and barns needed to be dealt with.

When I’m out driving the backroads of western Kansas, there’s an empty home like the Old Magie Place every few miles. They remind me that the region has a serious population decline problem, where there’s only the bare minimum number of people to even call it a community. That is, my home county (Lane County) has been losing population since its population peak in the 1960s; the decline, however, has greatly accelerated in my lifetime. Statistically speaking, in the last 20 years, more than a fifth of the local population has gone: fled, retired, moved on or died.

Wettest 12 Months in U.S. History by Bob Henson | Category 6 | Weather Underground

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Wettest 12 Months in U.S. History by Bob Henson | Category 6 | Weather Underground

he 12 months ending in April 2019 were the wettest year-long period in U.S. records going back to 1895, according to the monthly U.S. climate summary issued Wednesday by the NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information. Averaged across the contiguous U.S., the total of 36.20” made the period from May 2018 to April 2019 the first year-long span ever to top 36”. The old record for any 12-month period was 35.78”, from April 2015 to March 2016.

May 9, 2019 Morning

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Good morning! Happy Thursday. Next Thursday is Average High is 70 🐮. Seems like it was just yesterday we were looking forward to temperatures in the 40s during the cold of winter. Six weeks to summer, eight to Independence Day.🇺🇸 Been remarkable how cold and rainy this spring has been. Overcast and 57 degrees. ☁ Calm wind.

I walked down to the express bus 🚍 today and I’m the only one on it. Good thing I walked down there 🚶 it makes the drivers trip worthwhile. While this bus is usually lightly subscribed compared to early buses its been a while since I was the sole rider.

Today will be mostly cloudy 🌥, with a high of 63 degrees at 3pm. Four degrees below normal, which is similar to a typical day around April 27th. Light and variable wind becoming south 5 to 10 mph in the morning. Not a real nice day but no rain and relatively mild. A year ago, we had mostly sunny skies. The high last year was 82 degrees. Last May was so warm compared to this year. The record high of 93 was set in 1979. 1.6 inches of snow fell back in 1977.❄

The sun will set at 8:04 pm with dusk around 8:36 pm, which is one minute and 6 seconds later than yesterday. 🌇 At sunset, look for cloudy skies ☁ and temperatures around 56 degrees. There will be a south breeze at 13 mph. Today will have 14 hours and 25 minutes of daytime, an increase of 2 minutes and 17 seconds over yesterday.

Tonight will have a chance of showers, mainly after midnight. Cloudy 🌧, with a low of 49 degrees at 5am. Four degrees above normal, which is similar to a typical night around May 21st. South wind around 14 mph. Chance of precipitation is 50%. New precipitation amounts of less than a tenth of an inch possible. In 2018, we had mostly clear skies. It got down to 56 degrees. The record low of 28 occurred back in 1958.

Saturday continues to look sunny, and Sunday won’t be the washout it once said it would be. Saturday, mostly sunny, with a high near 60.😎 Northwest wind 9 to 11 mph. I don’t think I would mind a good breeze, as it would control the black flies to an extent and dry things out. I still willl bring a shit-ton of DEET. Don’t think I would want to go kayaking though, as it could be pretty choppy. Sunday, a chance of rain. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 58. Chance of precipitation is 40%. That actually isn’t that bad for a typical summer weekend, especially when it falls on a Saturday. Typical average high for the weekend is 68 degrees.

I think I’ve decided to head north this weekend. ⛺ I’d like to camp down at Stewart Landing before the summer crowds arrive. It looks like the rain will end relatively early Friday night so I won’t be setting up in the rain. Saturday should get progressively warmer although I’ll probably be in a hoodie a good portion of the day. Maybe fish the Middle Sprite creek and possibly drive down to Little Falls and spend half the day at Moss Island and walking the rail trail then return in the evening to camp and walk down to the lake to fish. Sunday doesn’t look really good, but might be good for fishing with the clouds and only light rain. I might hike back on Sunday to Tamarack Vly or hike some of the trails around Rockwood Lake.

The following weekend is the Albany Pine Bush Lupine Festival 🦋, which I will be tabling, so I’ll be stuck in town for that weekend. But it’s fine. The following weekend is Memorial Day Weekend, I’m planning to head up to the East Branch for that to fight the black flies, unless maybe it’s exceptionally warm, then I might consider Vermont for swimming in Grout Pond. Although I can think of some nice swimming holes along the East Branch. I’d probably hike back some of the trails there.🏊 Not sure how many of those sites fill up, but there are enough obscure ones that I’m sure I can find one, especially if I leave relatively early on that Friday afternoon. I don’t expect super nice weather for Memorial Day Weekend, as in recent years it’s been pretty cool and rainy, as it’s still spring time. One year was hot, but that’s the exception not the rule for Memorial Day Weekend. Independence Weekend is much nicer. 🎆

As previously noted, next Thursday is Average High is 70 🐮 when the sun will be setting at 8:12 pm with dusk at 8:44 pm. On that day in 2018, we had partly sunny, patches of fog and temperatures between 72 and 51 degrees. We hit a record high of 89 back in 1991.

Stack

Next Time – Thursday May 9

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Today’s sunrise was at 5:38 am. The next time the sun will rise later then today 🌄 is in 76 days on Wednesday, July 24.

The average high for today is 67 degrees. 🌡 The next time it will be on average cooler then today is in 144 days on Monday, September 30 when the average temperature will be 66 degrees.

Today’s sunset will be at 8:04 pm. The next time the sun will set earlier then today 🌆 is in 93 days on Saturday, August 10.

The average low for today is 45 degrees. 🌡 The next night it will be on average cooler then tonight is in 147 days on Thursday, October 3 when the average temperature will be 44 degrees.

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