I had to pick up a prescription today, so a trip to the grocery store was necessary. I paid 81¢ for a three month supply of Lisinopril. A few keystrokes by a good programmer and these “almost a dollar” prices could be set to exactly $1. The folks had just broken open a roll of new pennies. I seldom see new change so that might have been the high point of the trip.
However, in the produce section there were two displays of fresh cherries. First, I saw a simple dark red variety. Very shiny and pretty, with the price of $1.99. I said no. A couple of counters farther on there was a display of Rainier Cherries. They too were pretty and, I thought, pretty pricey – even on sale.
Under the $6.99 price there is a small “Save $3.00”. I always ignore the “save” part and think about how many cherries one gets for a dollar. And, of course, how many pits. Grapes are easier to deal with – lower cost and no pits. I think the phrase “That’s the pits!” came about when a frugal shopper saw cherries for $10.00 per pound.
This morning I picked a pound of Raspberries – now, up to about 5 pounds in the freezer. I watered a few plants and sifted rocks out of dirt. Temperature was nearing 80 degrees. So I quit. High was 94 and it is still – at 7:30 – 88°. I guess I will walk up to the road and get the mail, and that will be enough exertion for the day.
Tuesday evening several of us gathered for a friendly game of Pétanque.
The number of players was restricted because of a fire in grass and brush that came from the north into the Mariposa Vineyard – where I help prune.
Phyllis and Cameron did not come. Another couple (Audrey & Phil) had gone to Wenatchee and were prevented from using the highway that comes past the vineyard. Oops! There isn’t a good (short) detour. It took them about 8 hours to get back to Quincy, from when they left in the morning. Normally, that would be a 40 minute trip.
The two photos are (left): looking to the northwest across Lynch Coulee during the burn, and (right): same direction looking at the vineyard when the fire had been contained, although still smoldering in a few ravines to the north. Containment was at 2,300 acres. That is 2.7 times the size of Central Park in NYC.
The areas outlined in red are burned. Unknown is the damage in the vines to the right, to the edge of the photo. Crews kept the fire away from the few houses in the area.
Cameron wrote: ” It came from the Northeast and was traveling at quite the pace which allowed it to blow past the mowed fire break that we maintain in that area. Much of my vaunted native vegetation is flammable at this time of year and thus burned under the vines, desiccating the leaves. There is some trunk damage, but the majority seem to be simply dessicated and I am hopeful those vines will activate dormant buds along the trunk and cordon. That would mean we don’t have to cut them back to the ground for retraining.”
We did however have to replace most of the above ground irrigation in the most toasted areas. We finished that project this morning {Sat} in a rush as we did not want to add water stress to the fire damage.
In other news, my father was from the Warren, PA area and met my mother there. There are still relatives living in Warren or nearby. This is where police are searching for an escaped killer. The killing was in Jamestown NY (18 mi. north) but then he kidnapped a couple from Warren County and went to South Carolina. I guess that is why he was in the jail in Warren and not in Jamestown. I know a few folks in Warren County. There are a lot of loaded weapons in the region, and not just the ones law officers have.
Keeping Track
on the Naneum Fan
John