Minnesota Stories:

Savoring Rare Heat and Humidity in SW Minnesota

Our southwest Minnesota correspondent Lisa Locke Heikes writes of a cool summer mingled with a wish for warmer weather to help the crops grow.

Today started out as a beautiful one…..the sun was shining, and the breeze….. was cool enough. The weather man said that we were in for some hot humid days here in southwest Minnesota; and that is okay with us. My garden is desperately in need of some moist air; not to mention the beans and corn in the fields that surround our farm. Our summer has been a cooler one for us; I have to say that don’t believe we even reached 100 degrees this season.

Am I complaining? Gosh, no. I love the cool, still nights, where we can sit out on the deck and actually enjoy ourselves. But, that farmer’s daughter voice creeps in to my head that the plants need the heat as well as the moisture. So, am I going to complain that it is will be very humid these next couple of days? No, and I'dbetter enjoy them because the leaves are already starting to fall off my maple tree and the changing of the season’s is upon us.

Lisa (Locke) Heikes lives outside of Ellsworth, Minnesota with her husband of 13 years. They have five children. They live on her husband's family farm (a Centennial farm that is over 113 years old). They raise beef cattle. She describes herself as “a domestic engineer, Sunday school teacher, youth group leader, 4-H volunteer, Rock County Farm Bureau member, Elder and member of the Zion Presbyterian Church, Ellsworth.”