As noted elsewhere, August was an interesting month, weather wise.
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KIMBALL – As noted elsewhere, August was an interesting month, weather wise.
Also interesting is the fact that I was once again surprised to find August gone and summer fading so soon. Each year it seems that September sneaks up on me. And just as with every September, while I’m glad to see the heat abate and the evenings become crisp, I’m also slightly disappointed to realize that there’s no way I’m going to complete all of my summer projects. If the weather cooperates I’ll finish about a third of my cross-fencing project. Ah well, something to do next year.
I spend a lot of time outdoors in nature.
Although it’s probably more time than many modern, first-world humans spend, my exposure to nature is sharply limited. During the time of easy living -- those months of late spring, summer, and early autumn -- I may put in 14-16 hour days outside, however, I spend much more time indoors in the winter. All in all, my year-round average daily outside time is probably more like four to six hours.
Location-wise, my exposure is also sharply limited. Nearly all of that time is spent on a few square miles of the ranch. I know the ranch pretty well, and some might say I know it intimately, but that’s not really so. I’m very familiar with the geology and topography and surface biosphere and climate, but I know next to nothing about what goes on beneath the surface, or indeed, above the surface. I occasionally visit at night, but more than 99 percent of my active outside time is between dawn and dusk.
I see a lot of stuff and I think about a lot of stuff and over the years I’ve developed a solid general understanding of the seasonal ebb and flow of the place, of the wide variation that makes every moment distinctly unique within the framework of seasonal and annual norms.
But that’s just general knowledge and experience. I’m anything but an expert.