5 thoughts on “December 9 – 15, 2013 Kaw Valley Almanac”
We skated on less than 6 inches. Lighter then. Some of the best times I can remember. Hardly felt cold until it came time to unlace the skates, then the fingers didn’t work properly.
My folks would always have us cut a hole in the ice to make sure it was that thick before they turned us loose and I believe that there were times 6 inches were not measured with a ruler. When it snowed on the ice, we would shovel a spoked circle and play goose and fox, a kind of game of tag where the fox would tag the geese and send them to the middle space where they could be freed by other geese–unless the fox tagged them first. Great fun until you could no longer feel the toes on your feet!
Hi Ken, I can hardly believe the healthy stand of bittersweet in your photo. Our stand (a well-guarded secret) was just a smidgeon of what it was last year. The entire vine that usually trails up into a tall tree was completely dead. We had to satisfy ourselves with a sparse gangly showing along the side of the road. Thanks for nourishing my connection to Kansas on a weekly basis with your observations for the Kaw Valley Almanac!
Someone else said that their bittersweet was scragglier this year, too. I don’t know what to account for it being so healthy here, other than around here, almost all plants look so much better than they were doing the last couple of years. The drought might have knocked back some bittersweet and killed others outright, just as it did with some trees which survived the dry spells only to die this year. As an aside, my stands are American bittersweet; there is a chinese variety that has been introduced and is much more aggressive than the native version.
I blog frequently and I truly appreciate your content. The article has truly peaked my interest. I am going to take a note of your website and keep checking for new information about once per week. I subscribed to your RSS feed too.
Kaw Valley Almanac 
We skated on less than 6 inches. Lighter then. Some of the best times I can remember. Hardly felt cold until it came time to unlace the skates, then the fingers didn’t work properly.
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My folks would always have us cut a hole in the ice to make sure it was that thick before they turned us loose and I believe that there were times 6 inches were not measured with a ruler. When it snowed on the ice, we would shovel a spoked circle and play goose and fox, a kind of game of tag where the fox would tag the geese and send them to the middle space where they could be freed by other geese–unless the fox tagged them first. Great fun until you could no longer feel the toes on your feet!
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Hi Ken, I can hardly believe the healthy stand of bittersweet in your photo. Our stand (a well-guarded secret) was just a smidgeon of what it was last year. The entire vine that usually trails up into a tall tree was completely dead. We had to satisfy ourselves with a sparse gangly showing along the side of the road. Thanks for nourishing my connection to Kansas on a weekly basis with your observations for the Kaw Valley Almanac!
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Someone else said that their bittersweet was scragglier this year, too. I don’t know what to account for it being so healthy here, other than around here, almost all plants look so much better than they were doing the last couple of years. The drought might have knocked back some bittersweet and killed others outright, just as it did with some trees which survived the dry spells only to die this year. As an aside, my stands are American bittersweet; there is a chinese variety that has been introduced and is much more aggressive than the native version.
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I blog frequently and I truly appreciate your content. The article has truly peaked my interest. I am going to take a note of your website and keep checking for new information about once per week. I subscribed to your RSS feed too.
LikeLike