No Vine Before Its Time

After the wind whipped through here this weekend, I wasn’t sure much of the vines would remain.  They were really flouncing around for quite a while.  The grapevine  didn’t really budge.  The peas formed a moving green wall.  The birds couldn’t hang on up in the wisteria.  I was afraid the abundance of buds would be heading towards Madera.

It seems the wisteria is undamaged and about ready to pop.  Their perfume is just in time to replace the fading lilacs.

 

The grapevine came through the storm without a scar.  But, I don’t know what a scar looks like on a grapevine. 

Better luck next time Madera.

Against the Wind

I do not like the wind.  It’s destructive, messy, annoying, and (around here) hazardous. 

In December 1977, a bunch of the San Joaquin Valley was blown up into the atmosphere by nasty winds and then scattered to parts as far away as the bay area.  Last night the breeze turned into a wind.  It went on for hours and continued until the rain finally arrived late this afternoon.  I woke up to part of my tender lemon tree broken and hurled around quite a few obstacles and heading out to the street.

The wind chimes were not gently chiming throughout the night.  They were madly clanging to wake even a very sound sleeper like me.  The clapper indicates the wind is coming from the south.

Confirmation from the weathervane indicates that part of the Valley is heading north again.  It seems to be a constant exchange we have.  Guck from the north floats south and fills our skies here until a wind comes through and lobs it back their way with a big “Thank you very much”. Shards from the broken terra cotta will be re-assigned and the bay tree is seeking a new home.

Perhaps if I owned a share of one of those wind mills up in Tehachapi I might like the wind a bunch more.  Until then, I do not like the wind.

Mamas’ Day

Mamas’ Day was great.  The morning started early out in the garden finishing the tomato supports.  It was cool and breezy.  It was so cool I had to grab an extra shirt.  Excellent.  I snagged an onion for dinner and strawberries for a big bowl of fruit salad.  Notice the dust on the strawberry leaves.  A change is coming. I would loved to have tied the twine to the tomato supports and started planting the tomatoes; but my back had different plans.  Stooping over or bending was not in the plans.  I went to the kitchen to get some “upright” work done. The clouds began to roll in.  I had to change to sweat pants and a sweater.  Lovely.  The wind started to blow.  When the rain came some windows had to get shut. Sweet rain.  My babies probably ordered the weather just for me.  They’re good that way.  I really don’t mind that there was one tragedy due to the storm. It was a nice Mamas’ Day.

When the Wind Blows

Wind reached an estimated 192 mph in Arvin and lifted in excess of 25 million tons of soil from local grazing lands alone. The wind was strong enough to cause drifting sand to pile-up and plug highways, bury cars, blow-out windows in vehicles, and denude the landscape. The raised dust from the event dimmed the sun as far north as Reno NV.  That was December 1977.  The photo above was taken in the skies above Arvin which is just a few miles southeast of Bakersfield.  I remember that day.  Anyone that was in the San Joaquin Valley then remembers that.  And they probably hate the wind just as much as me.

Usually the wind ushers in the promise of a rainstorm only to blow so hard that the rain goes some place else.  Yesterday, it was windy.  It wasn’t 192 mph windy; but it was dirty windy just the same.  It was windy all day long.  Yuck.  The tomato seedlings were whisked into the shed for protection.  Anything that might blow away was moved or tied down.  We spent the entire day inside watching the dirt get thicker in the air.  Then it finally rained.  It rained most of the night then on and off today.

Today, I surveyed the damage.  My giant whirligig twisted off the shepherd’s hook it hung from.  The wind chimes got a bit tangled.  Some potted plants tipped over and were up righted.  The tender growth on many of the trees and vines had damage.

Wisteria -  Both the wisteria vines have similar damage as if the leaves are melting.

Santa Rosa Plum – The plum tree damage looked as though caterpillars had had a food orgy on them.

 Granny Smith Apple – The leaves have been bashed about so much it looks as if they’re bruised.

Warren Pear – This damage looks as though the leaf had been slapped around a lot.  The leaf could have been slapping against a post.

Fantasia Nectarine – The wind must have whipped these leaves around smashing them against each other until they broke.

Blenheim Apricot – This guy just looks all tired out.  The leaves are flopped over to one side.  Here’s how they look just a few days ago.

Thankfully, the peaches (O’Henry) are hanging tough.

The rain had settle the dirt out of the air so much that I could see the base of the grapevine very, very clearly (The hill going south to LA that Commander Cody and His Lost Planet Airmen made even more famous.).

For anyone who thinks that 1977 was a long time ago, for anyone that likes hot rods, or for anyone that would like to hear good ol’ Commander Cody and His Lost Planet Airmen…enjoy!