The Baboon Congress, Weather

The Minnesota 10

90 Comments

Today’s guest post comes from tim

35 years ago a guitar teacher told me we only get 10 perfect per year in minnesota and they are all in april and may before it gets hot and buggy.

i observed that he was correct and have been keeping track ever since. 10 is about right with the exception of a summer 3 years or so ago when we had 100 perfect days. no rain so no bugs or humidity made for the nicest summer ever but the drought was another issue.

i have discovered along the way that when you are thinking about the really hot or the really cold days here in our weather driven world that there are a max of 10 hot days and 10 cold days per year too.

it helps put it all in perspective

what do you hate? tolerate? and appreciate?

90 thoughts on “The Minnesota 10”

  1. Morning all! Does it make me Little Miss Sunshine if I think we have lots more than ten perfect days a year?

    I moved here on purpose as a Young Adult because of the weather. Grew up in St. Louis but vacationed up here (in all seasons) as a kid so knew this was where I wanted to be. I especially love the beginnings of all the seasons – the first really blustery fall day that chills your nose and cheeks. The first snow fall. The first day you can leave your coat open in spring. The first days of summer when suddenly you realize everything is green (and then you realize you have to get the mower out!)

    Bring it all on!

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  2. bless you vs. yes you are little mis sunshine. nobody else gets it. you get to add 10 you really aprecaite to the list.
    my son in law moved here from italy where my daughter met him from kosovo (yugoslavia) where he was born. he moved here in april and when october rolled around and it was 40 he began talking about how cold it was. i had to laugh. i told him to read the temperature every day and remember how cold it was and then to see in march when those same temperatures came around again how warm they felt. he really thought that was funny. i explained that your blood really does thicken. i dont know if thats true but i seldom let a little thing like truth temper my perceptions.
    i spent an extended amount of time in indonesia and the temperature and seasons are always the same. 75 sunny with some rain in the afternoon 12 hours of sun 12 hours of dark. that is the part of the world that ramadan comes from. its no big deal for them to fast from sun up til sun down its 12 hours. here we have the longest days of the year and all thos poor muslims have to go 18 hours everyday with their fast, i used to think it was bad to get stuck with fish on fridays when i was a kid. im pretty sure my mom never never not once ever made fish on friday, it was fish sticks every time. campbells soup must not have had a fish recipe on the back of the can.
    today i am plugging in gluten free to my vegetarian diet. this is a big damn deal. no wheat is an interesting addition to the already restrained meatless agenda i have employed for 40 plus years. its gonna take a while. i sure do feel better. my goal is to be the best feeling dead guy ever by the time i get there and to take a while longer getting there. gluten free is part of the new deal. just keep telling myself it feels so good it feels so good it feels so good. there now pass me some kale.

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      1. thanks
        i love gnocchi and you are right potatoes are on the program
        i will try black bean and or sweet potato pasta but have my doubts

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        1. I have the accessory that grinds stuff into flour but it’s s course flour not fine
          I should try running my course flour through the blades on the cuisine art to see if I can zap it to dust

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    3. Have you been diagnosed as gluten intolerant, tim? And if not, why are you doing the gluten free diet? Just curious.

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      1. I don’t do doctors well
        I have recently noticed gluten free eliminates lots of issues do I’m going with it
        Suspected it for years but avoid exit got denial based reasoning
        If it walks like a duck

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      1. Those who are both gluten intolerant and vegetarian may find their choices at The Sassy Spoon somewhat limited because their completely gluten free menu does not include a very extensive selection of vegetarian food.

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        2. For those of us who have been vegetarians for years, any restaurant that has even two options is heaven. I lived two years in Milwaukee (otherwise known as Meat City); I’d try to order something cobbled together from some of the sides and they’d look at me like I had frogs coming out my ears!

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  3. Good morning. There is a lot about weather to appreciate, tolerate, or hate. I have somewhat the same attitude toward people. I’ve known some people that I completely like, others that I tolerate, and some that I can not tolerate. There are some people who are so friendly and so trust worthy that I would never expect to have any problem getting along with them and I totally appreciate them.

    Others who are not so perfect fall into the tolerated category. Tolerated isn’t exactly the right word. In fact I like almost all of the people I know even if they do have some obvious faults. There have only been a few people that I hate. Those are the ones that seem to be devoted to continually and intentionally creating major problems for me and other people.

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    1. Ted Cruz made the news last night as his high school classmates in Houston said he’s always been exactly like he is today
      It’s a little surprising he made it through school with more scars

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  4. Bob Bergland, former Secretary of Agriculture, was from Minnesota. He gave a speech that mentioned the difficulties of farmers, with the principal difficulty being that “a year of normal weather happens only about once in five years.” I rejected that notion as silly. “Normal” weather would happen most years, I thought. In five years, maybe three or four would be normal.

    That speech was 35 years ago. In that time I’ve watched weather. I now think a year of normal weather is even less common than Bergland said. You get four seasons each year. One of them is going to be too hot or too cold to be normal. Or maybe one will be remarkably wet or dry.

    What is really abnormal is normal weather for a whole year. And that was true before climate change set in and challenged previous notions of “normal.”

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    1. And all you need is one hail storm one late or early frost one dry spell to go from a good or great year to a bust

      I found a partner on my watering agricultural land project
      Should be an interesting one. I’m looking forward to it

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        1. Basically drip irrigation to each plant sensor to feed water and nutrients on as as need basis in its simplest form
          Shade cloth and more options in its grandest form
          Modeled after Israel desert farming in the desert methods

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    2. In Southern Minnesota I heard it said that almost every year farmers managed to get fairly good crop production although they were sure that they were facing a crop disaster several times during each of those year. Almost every year there would be some periods of severe weather that was not good for crops. However, somehow the crops would survive and end up producing nearly normal or good yields.

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  5. This may be one the list for Iowa.
    The s&h just took off for the 5k in Cedar Rapids.

    Excited? Oh yeah.

    My twisty knees won’t tolerate running, but I’m gearing up to start being a 5k walker. A group of cross country moms has started a walking group while our kids are running hill sprints at the lock & dam.
    Hoping there will be “less” of me to see by next book club.

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      1. try biking and rollerblading too. both woinderful for bad knees. the blading may be tough on the wrist and rear end at first but what a great sport.

        thats why they call it personal best. tell him to keep plugging away. he will chip away at that 4 minute mile

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  6. It seems to me that on average we get 10 perfect days in the spring and early summer, and about 10 more in the fall. Maybe I am expanding the definition of perfect to include the almost-perfect days.

    I love that It’s the 4th of July and I haven’t had to install air conditioners yet. Fans have been doing the job just fine.

    I hate the burgeoning population of fruit flies that has invaded my kitchen.

    I tolerate road construction, but I’m longing for the return of Kellogg Boulevard and the southbound Wabasha Street bridge.

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    1. you are a little miss sunshine in your own right. doubling the perfect day list is quite an accomplishment. imagine if you could be twice as happy as the general population on lifes journey. what a successful accomplishment

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    2. I’m glad you haven’t needed a/c yet, Linda. I used to delay using it so much that I made it through whole summers without turning that switch on. But not here! We are in the ninth day of oppressive heat, with another week to come.

      This affects how I plan my life. I take pills that keep me home (near the bathroom) for several hours each morning. The heat gets oppressive by mid-afternoon. That gives me very few hours (mostly in early afternoon) to do anything outside. On the other hand, I think this area gets more than 10 perfect days a year.

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    3. My air conditioner is sitting on the floor of my spare room. Last year I never did move it to the window – a perfect summer is one in which I can get away with air conditioning 3 nights or less

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  7. good list
    rumor has it the ac will be appropriate next week and then on into the summer. fruit flies mean you have fruit on the counter. ummmmm
    kellogg blvd and wabasha are what you get for living in st paul minneapolis is a small big town and st paul is a big small town . im goig to see garrison today . ill be over by the tree

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  8. I too have been thinking we’re having more than our 10 perfect days this summer – I love it when temps are in hi-70s low-80s, a little rain some days but not for days on end… Love it that I’ve seen a few monarchs this year (just saw one last year). Love it that some of my butterfly friendly flowers are doing better this year.

    Appreciate ALL the flowers that keep showing up. Appreciate any time from early spring on, that I can take my mom outside when I visit.

    Hate it that so many trees/shrubs died over this last winter – the main trumpet vine that’s decades old has not one green shoot. Lost the little elm we had put behind the box elder (for back-up when the big guy goes). And lost another limb from the apple tree, so it seems to be going – replaced the dead pine out front with a new apple.

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  9. I’m with vs and Linda, I think there are way more than 10 perfect days a year. Of course, I also think that a perfect day can be rainy, or snowy.

    I hate being around smokers, and try to avoid it all costs. Road construction, meh! So far I’ve found a way to get where I’m going without major delays. It helps that I don’t have to commute during rush hour.

    I appreciate cheerful people with a good sense of humor, and I love furry and feathered beasts of all kinds.

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  10. I once sent photos of Minnesota to friends who lived in the West. They wrote back, “GREEN! My god, we never knew a place could be so GREEN!” I thought I had moved to an area that suffered from too much rain, but now I have to wonder. Even before July arrived all our grass here had been baked to a tan color.

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  11. I love my front yard when the weeds are all pulled, and I hate it when I have had to neglect it. We spent 5 hours weeding yesterday, and boy does it look swell now. We are actually having hot and, gasp, HUMID weather today.I am hopeful for pepper growth today. The smoke from the Canadian fires is the cause of our weather right now, I think. We rarely have humid weather here

    I appreciate my conversations with strangers and cashiers in lines at stores these days. Due to all the new people in town, there is always a wait and people converse. Yesterday we had a nice talk with our hispanic grocery cashier, Rosa, who asked what we were doing for the Fourth. I said weeding and house cleaning and she said that is what she is doing, too. Days off for both of us are for catching up with things at home. It is nice to feel a sense of community here. The guy in line in front of us was curious about my tee shirt, which had a quote from The Tempest “Hell is empty and all the devils are here”. People tend to think I am a uber- evangelical Christian when I wear it, so I like to explain about the Stratford Festival, which is where I got the shirt.

    Now we are going to weed the south flower beds and the vegetable patch in the back yard.

    Daughter and her best friend are both in Fargo this summer and bought fireworks (on my credit card, I might add) in honor of Ginger the cat, and drove all over looking for a place to set them off. They ended up 50 miles north of Fargo in Mayville and noticed some people setting off fireworks so the girls asked if they could join them and the people said yes, so they had a good time and didn’t get arrested for setting off fireworks in the city limits in Fargo.

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      1. That took place up in the Williston area, which is about 80 miles north of us in the heart of the Bakken oil area. Williston has had some tough growing pains and it is really changed up there from the sleepy town it used to be.

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        1. One change in our town since the oil boom is fireworks in the winter. Our new citizens from the southern US like to set them off at New Year’s and Christmas, something uncommon up here. I love fireworks and love any excuse to set them off.

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  12. OT, or perhaps not. At our little West Side Farmer’s Market this morning, there was a young couple who do bicycle repairs. Their sign, written in white chalk on a black guitar case, made me smile: ” FREE ADVICE on bicycle repair and/or life.”

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      1. The West Side Market is very small, and quite different from the main one in Lowertown. I support it mostly because I’m friends with a couple of the women who started it. Also, I like the people and enjoy visiting with the locals from the neighborhood. But it’s certainly no substitute for the Lowertown market which I love.

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  13. A couple of years ago the girls were setting off fireworks in our driveway and accidently shot a rather large rocket at the grumpy neighbor’s garbage can and knocked it over. Best friend’s mom came out and started to give the girls a pretend tongue lashing so the neighbor didn’t phone the police.

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    1. Fireworks was being set off all night last night in the neighborhood. Glad poor Daisy wasn’t here to suffer through that.

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        1. Not that I would wish deafness on my Irish Setter, but she is also afraid of fireworks (& thunder). Even the handful of things set off last night in the neighborhood was too much for her. She’s getting a pill at about 4:30.

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  14. I have to be on iPad right now. But have to backdoor my way in. WP thinks the world ended two days ago.
    Unless it is long lasting dear or threatening, or interrupts what I am doing, I like all weather. Do not know how to decide there are so few perfect days. On the North Shore all days are sort of wonderful. September on the NS has about 20-25 days a year by me.
    Loved logging at ten below weather. Loved when we burned brush piles at around 0 with no wind and blue blue skies. On a camping trip one night of rain makes the rest sweeter.
    When I wrie fiction it feels so fictional to make the weather right for the scene. Just wrote of an outdoor wedding, feel cheap that I gave it clear weather.

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    2. I studied cross county ski perfection and like logging -10 is perfect
      A fire at 0 is good
      I am the lucky person who gets to watch others swat mosquitoes so that is a factor that is only a minor concern for me
      My favorite weather of all is a warm rain
      My kids were little when a warm rain broke out years ago and I told them this was the best ever
      They ran in pouring rain for 45 minutes
      Their mother was very freaked out to have me encourage them to play in the inclement weather
      We got tons of great pictures and a memory we still refer to occasionally
      Special exceptions are fun noteworthy exclaimation points in life.
      Crickets and frogs after sundown and the mosquitoes leave are another exception
      Some of the best days are nights

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  15. Love the screen porch, hate parts of the basement, appreciate the rest of the house.

    Love the adventure while we’re on a trip, hate the decisions to make when planning, appreciate coming home.

    Love some of my mom’s caregivers, hate the institutional aspects of most assisted living places, appreciate that she is safe and cared for.

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  17. I don’t think anyone here has noted yet that Garrison is retiring. For real, or so they so. I had a friend whose husband is in the Shoe Band. She was convinced Garrison would go on until dropping dead during a performance some day. Chris Thile, mandolin player from Nickel Creek, will be the new host.

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    1. You’re right, Steve, I don’t think anyone on the trail has mentioned that Garrison is retiring, but it’s certainly no secret. The show will never be the same, but, so far, Chris Thile has done a terrific job on the shows he has hosted. The PHC has had an amazing run and staying power, but I think all of us old-timers are aware that an era is coming to an end. Garrison will be 73 in August; I say more power to him.

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      2. I am aware of his age, for he is two months younger than I. Our lives have touched each other for a long time. I was a fan of the literary magazine he created at the U of MN, so I’ve been intrigued with him since the fall of 1964. My daughter grew up in the 1980s and 1990s with Garrison almost as a family member. We never missed listening to PHC. Molly would fall asleep listening to tapes of Lake Wobegon monologues.

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    2. I guess I’m alone in not mourning the end of GK’s reign. I’m tired of his thinking he can sing (and doing too much of it) and his libidinous geezer favoring fart jokes.
      There, I’ve said it, please don’t excommunicate me. I do hugely APPRECIATE what he did all those years for Minnesota, for MPR, for folk music.

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      1. Excommunicate you, Lisa? Never. We need someone on this trail to uphold some standards. We can’t have adults telling fart jokes in polite company.

        Actually, one of the things that I like about Garrison is that he will say outrageous things that he knows will be controversial, but he doesn’t care. I don’t always agree with him, but he always makes me think. And what’s wrong with his singing? I like it just fine.

        Where is Greenville, and what are you doing there?

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      2. I’ll miss APHC, but not as much as TLGMS. It’s probably a good time for Garrison to retire. Although I still enjoy much of his show, I have to admit some of the skits were beginning to sound tired.

        Didn’t hear yesterday’s show, but I will try to catch a rebroadcast later in the week.

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  18. should be interesting. with garrison being such a control freak, to let the new guy in and let him create his own identity will be the key. i feel like garrison is mark twain and that we should honor each performance he puts out there and am appreciative of the schedule he keeps and the readings discussions and other stuff he does in addition to the show. the new guy gets the keys to avery special castle and if it goes forward with garrisons stewardship and if the following continues to follow is the 64000 dollar question. i see pat donohue has been missing and the shoe band was not there yesterday and so it appears to be a disbanding of the gang assembled since his return from the disney escape i see the possibility of garrison doing a do over on the hand off here too. its different than 20 years ago but the players are all the same just an updated version of the circumstances. i hope they do a nice job and i hope garrison continues to find a way to continue his narative on our world. i enjoy it and while i find it encouraging that the next generationt of phc is being considered, i do wish them well and look forward to the outcome. its got a better chance than anything else to take over the following. best of luck and heres hoping

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    1. I think you are exactly right about the Mark Twain comparison, tim. I’d be really surprised if Pat leaves the show. He was the Shoe Band member I used to socialize with, and I walked dogs daily with his wife. They were totally committed to the show, both for personal and economic reasons.

      You are right, too, about the complexities of the handoff. It looks like Garrison will continue to write for the show. My guess is that he will exercise huge amounts of restraint, not trying to control the new incarnation of the show. It will be hard. He WAS the show. Once he got sick and could not host the show, so someone else stood in for him. It was the same show he’d planned, and all his writing for it was presented, but the show felt WRONG because it wasn’t him. I’m sure MPR and all of the NPR world are terrified that the show will fail without him, and he has been the economic powerhouse of the public radio world.

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  19. Hi-
    The perception of ‘perfect days’ between Kelly and I has very little overlap. I have windows open at about 60 degrees and I like the humidity under 50%.
    Higher humidity and I feel ‘sticky’. And if the temp is over about 78 I’m sweating.
    Kelly is covered up with a blanket until 77 degrees and humidity doesn’t bother her in the least.

    No AC in our house. A friend gave us a window unit we put in daughters room if it really gets bad.
    We all have ceiling fans and regular fans in the living room.

    Remember when, for MN, ceiling fans were unheard of? I remember visiting my friend Pete in Florida in 1982 and they had ceiling fans and I thought that was the coolest thing ever.
    As a kid my bedroom was in the basement so I was always cooler than mom and dad upstairs and they turned the bed between two windows and put the fan in the doorway to create a breeze. I don’t know how they managed.

    Course the crops want heat. GDU’s — Growing Degree Units.
    (There’s an app for that! And here’s a website:
    https://www.pioneer.com/home/site/us/agronomy/tools/gdu/
    )
    So as much as I appreciate a cool summer, it comes back to bite me in the fall when the crops aren’t mature yet.
    So I will allow some heat for the crops to do well.
    That’s very big of me; presuming I have any control over the weather.
    I am also requesting one more week of no rain so I can plow up a field for a neighbor.

    Weather aside; if we get to spend the day together and have quality time together… it’s a pretty good day.
    🙂

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      1. I have the cab and the AC but I don’t like mint and I don’t have the GPS in the tractor yet.
        This is a ‘city folk’ neighbor… bought some acreage and wants to plow up a couple acres of pasture to plant something to attract the deer.
        I keep telling him there’s a reason it was pasture to begin with.
        But it’s his property… and I’ll leave water ways and probably not plow as much as he wants.
        And there still will be plenty of grass land for milk weed and goldenrod.

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      1. It’s from December of 2014, but I hadn’t seen it before, and it does give some leads on artists to keep an eye out for.

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  20. i love the whole house fans that go up in the ceiling and suck all the air through and into the attic on a hot summer day. ventilation at 4 in the afternoon is all you need if its able to ge tthe hot air out and keep the air moving. our house has windows facing south that open but the north side doesnt allow for ventilation. i meant to get around to fixing it but never did. it is amazing to u how the difference between standing in the sun and standing in the shade makes you comfortable or not.

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  21. Just sent Dale a guest post. Hoped to have four for him but the other three will get done this week. Cleaned house today, so now the garden is weeded, the house is clean, and we are readyfor the new week. I hate dust.

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      1. How about killing two birds on one trip? Come to my house as well. At my house, skip the dust, but there are plenty of weeds to attack.

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  23. Okay, the first few words of the guest post threw me. Ten perfect what? I am struggling to “Craft The Narrative” and I know I am getting stuck in the technical details. Of course it all makes sense when you assume the writer means ‘days’. Thanks for any and all tips, tools, manuals, free classes, etc.

    ricomorales@gmail.com

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  24. By necessity, we do a lot of assuming here on the trail, Rico. Nevertheless, we muddle through somehow. “I am struggling to “Craft The Narrative” and I know I am getting stuck in the technical details.” My question is, what technical details?

    I don’t make a claim to being a writer, and perhaps what you’re talking about is professional jargon? What do I know? At any rate, I love it when anyone chimes in with a fresh perspective or a new idea. This is a safe place to indulge in whatever writing ambition you may have. Hope you do.

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