A couple just leaving the yard at dusk stopped as I was picking up Macdonald's restaurant litter that some dipstick had thrown on the road outside the driveway.
"A vacuum where the brain should be," the wife remarked with disgust, then "Go cover your garden when you're done."

I went downstairs to the storeroom and dug out the pillow case stuffed with old sheets and blankets, and headed for the garden. There were only enough to cover half the tomatoes and most of the peppers, but that's better than nothing, and nothing is what we would have if I hadn't because Scott announced the temperature had gone down to -3 C during the night.

It's not a huge loss for us, as we'd planted just enough for fresh eating this fall. But the freeze was widespread and severe and that means area farmers have lost their crops. As my sister said when we spoke by phone this morning, "There goes two-thirds of our income for this year." The other third will probably come from crop insurance. Farmers who didn't buy it will be in bad shape.

How disheartening it must be to farm for a living, sometimes. Karen's husband said this year's crop was the best he'd ever had; and now there's virtually nothing left of it.