Summer Cigars

 Friday, August 22, 2025

Cigar in the back yard yesterday. 

Cigar in the backyard today. 

The cicadas are out in full force. As a kid I thought the buzzing sound they made was electricity surging through the power lines. 

I'm also seeing and hearing the grasshoppers. It's just that time of school again. 

Dale mowed the lawn today. Josh from next door lets us borrow his electric mower. 

I watched lots of planes come in today. Dale said there's a closed runway so they're bringing all the planes in from the north. One flew by just about every 4 minutes or so. I didn't see a single plane taking off. 

Been doing lots of trimming back lately. Lot's is getting a little overgrown. 

Have a few books I'm working on. Read a little while out in the yard. 

Cicadas 1

You know it's August when the bugs I assume to be cicadas are buzzing away in full force. As a kid I'd hear the noise and look up to see what it was but would never see anything. The only thing I could come up with was electricity coursing through the wires. Dale and I found what is either this bugs skin or exoskeleton. I need to find an entomologist to confirm my theories.

August 1

August has arrived. It is my favorite month. My birthday is in August but I love it for more than that. By August I've been on vacation for about 7 weeks and am feeling quite a bit more relaxed than was the case in June and most of July. Dale is back for good from  Madeline Island and it is always better when he is around. The Minnesota State Fair is in August and I'm ready to be excited about it!

Full Moon August 20, 2013

The following is by Clara Moskowitz and was found in Huffington Post:

"This month's full moon, which rises on Tuesday (Aug. 20), is not just a Blue Moon - it's also the Full Sturgeon Moon, the Full Red Moon, the Green Corn Moon and the Grain Moon."

"Today's full moon qualifies as a Blue Moon because it's the third full moon in a season with four (most seasons have only three). Historically there have been two different definitions of a Blue Moon."

"Technically, a Blue Moon is the third full moon in a four-full-moon season. However, a 1946 article in 'Sky & Telescope' magazine mistakenly defined it as the second full moon in a single month (since most months have only one full moon), and the definition stuck. Because August will have just this one full moon, it wouldn't meet the mistaken, though commonly used, definition, though it does qualigy as a technical Blue Moon."

Huh, who knew? I guess you learn something new every day. (I like the mistaken definition best, though.)

August Sky

Beautiful, clear, blue sky.

I Love August

Yesterday at church a seminary student gave the homily. He began by saying how much he hates August and that to him this month is to summer what February is to winter - long and drawn out. He lost all of my attention at this point. It wasn't out of anger because, after all, he is entitled to his own opinion, but because I began to drift off and think about the many reasons I love August. It happens to be the month of my birthday but, more than this, it's the time of the season that I'm relaxed and beginning to look forward to going back to work while still appreciative of the vacation time I have left. I love fall and in August I begin to notice signs of the inevitable changes of the season - the changes in light, leaves, temperature and even the length of time between cricket chirps in the evening. In addition to this the days, while still warm, are not a likely to be as stiflingly hot as July. Oh yeah, and the Minnesota State Fair is on the horizon too (I believe it begins this year on August 25). The photo you see with this post is of a neighbor's blooming boulevard that I spotted on one of my walks today - a beautiful August day.