Two weeks ago, we experienced a drought in Wisconsin. It’s pretty much gone now.
We had, over an eight-day period, about three-and-a-half inches of rain. That was enough to saturate the ground, and get the corn and soybeans growing at the normal pace. All vegetation greened up.
What fascinates me though was the weather people discussing the crisis of our drought situation, how tenuous it was. Yeah, things were dry, but it isn’t like we live in Arizona or California.
Drought in Wisconsin can’t compare to the southwestern U.S. states. Sure, we get bad summers, but it’s nothing like two or three bad years in Texas or five straight bad years in California.
The golf courses hardened up before our recent rain. We complained about that. The club hitting the turf was like ricocheting off concrete. You could feel the contact through your wrists, up to your elbows and into your shoulders and back.
The good thing was that the ball rolled forever. Suddenly, instead of a good drive going 240 yards, we were hitting it 275 yards. It felt like being 40 years old again.
But we knew it wouldn’t last because Wisconsin will get rain. Now the grass is lush green again. You can’t count on the roll. You have to carry your shots to the green. It’s an entirely different game and you have to think things through in terms of where you want to land the ball (not that we can make the ball go where we want).
The corn was dry before our “drought” (as the weather pundits put it). Growth was slow. Some stalks yellowed. You could see that the dirt was powdery.
Now, the cliché of “knee high by the fourth of July” will once again come true. In fact, it seems any time the weather person glooms and dooms about the ability of corn to grow at the expected pace (whether it’s some bug, blight or lack of rain constraining it from sprouting more quickly), the bad thing stops, the good thing happens and we have corn way over knee high by the fourth of July.
This recent rain saturation occurred in stages. Half an inch one night. Then nothing for a few nights. Then a quarter of an inch. Then, one night I’m driving home and I see gravel washed across the road near our house. I go, “WHOAH,” because I had been out, and where I was there hadn’t been but a spattering of raindrops.
When I got home, I asked my wife if it had rained. “Yes, a deluge.”
“A short one?”
“No, it went on for a long time.”
It must have, because our rain gauge registered two-and-a-half inches when I went out to check. All told, we got over four inches in about eight days.
The needed rain doesn’t make things perfect. More is forecast for this week. The crops will make it. The grass will grow and we’ll need to pull the mowers back out to make our yards look nice.
Our “drought” may not be over. But in the interim we have lush vegetation, lots of greenery and the air smells nice. And, your approach shots on the golf course, now hold the green. There’s a lot to be said for each of those things.
We had, over an eight-day period, about three-and-a-half inches of rain. That was enough to saturate the ground, and get the corn and soybeans growing at the normal pace. All vegetation greened up.
What fascinates me though was the weather people discussing the crisis of our drought situation, how tenuous it was. Yeah, things were dry, but it isn’t like we live in Arizona or California.
Drought in Wisconsin can’t compare to the southwestern U.S. states. Sure, we get bad summers, but it’s nothing like two or three bad years in Texas or five straight bad years in California.
The golf courses hardened up before our recent rain. We complained about that. The club hitting the turf was like ricocheting off concrete. You could feel the contact through your wrists, up to your elbows and into your shoulders and back.
The good thing was that the ball rolled forever. Suddenly, instead of a good drive going 240 yards, we were hitting it 275 yards. It felt like being 40 years old again.
But we knew it wouldn’t last because Wisconsin will get rain. Now the grass is lush green again. You can’t count on the roll. You have to carry your shots to the green. It’s an entirely different game and you have to think things through in terms of where you want to land the ball (not that we can make the ball go where we want).
The corn was dry before our “drought” (as the weather pundits put it). Growth was slow. Some stalks yellowed. You could see that the dirt was powdery.
Now, the cliché of “knee high by the fourth of July” will once again come true. In fact, it seems any time the weather person glooms and dooms about the ability of corn to grow at the expected pace (whether it’s some bug, blight or lack of rain constraining it from sprouting more quickly), the bad thing stops, the good thing happens and we have corn way over knee high by the fourth of July.
This recent rain saturation occurred in stages. Half an inch one night. Then nothing for a few nights. Then a quarter of an inch. Then, one night I’m driving home and I see gravel washed across the road near our house. I go, “WHOAH,” because I had been out, and where I was there hadn’t been but a spattering of raindrops.
When I got home, I asked my wife if it had rained. “Yes, a deluge.”
“A short one?”
“No, it went on for a long time.”
It must have, because our rain gauge registered two-and-a-half inches when I went out to check. All told, we got over four inches in about eight days.
The needed rain doesn’t make things perfect. More is forecast for this week. The crops will make it. The grass will grow and we’ll need to pull the mowers back out to make our yards look nice.
Our “drought” may not be over. But in the interim we have lush vegetation, lots of greenery and the air smells nice. And, your approach shots on the golf course, now hold the green. There’s a lot to be said for each of those things.