May Flowers Without the April Showers

April showers bring May flowers.

But what happens if you don't get April showers? My lilacs decided to bloom anyway.

While my backyard lilacs have overcome the lack of moisture, our wheat crop is a different story. We did get a half inch of rain on Monday. The weather forecasters were saying that our area could receive 1.5 to 2 inches Wednesday and today. So far, that hasn't happened. 

The little bit of moisture has seemed to prod the wheat to begin to head out. It's a little late this year. For the week ending May 1, Kansas winter wheat jointed was 67%, behind 81% last year and 75% for the five-year average. The wheat headed was 10%, near 11% last year, and behind 17% average, according to USDA/NASS. In our area, I think it's further behind than that, but that's what the survey says.

We'll see what happens. My local correspondent at the Joan's Cafe says that more than one farmer has pulled out his crop insurance contract to see the terms. (Said correspondent has done the same.)

But, in the meantime, I'll enjoy my lilacs. They've been a favorite since childhood.

They're favorites for the bees ...

... and the butterflies, too.

The lilacs and spirea are familiar signs of spring.  

No wonder they are made-to-order for May Day!

I must admit the lack of rain has me worried. Unless we get appreciable rain today, I don't think the drought monitor map is going to improve. We are firmly in the "red" now (extreme drought).

But then I get reminders in things like email devotionals that remind me that God even cares about the flowers that are here today - and gone tomorrow.

Today’s Scripture

Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life? And why do you worry about clothes? See how the flowers of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. 

--Matthew 5: 27-29 (NIV)

Prayer for the Week

Thank you, God, for sun and showers.
Thank you for each lovely flower.
Thank you for each stately tree.
Though all these, you speak to me.
—A Gardener’s Prayer

(I'm not a gardener, but I like the prayer anyway.)

 

Frosty Morning

For days, sunrise was a non-event. Overcast gloom had overtaken any hints of glow in the eastern sky. But Saturday morning, light yellow and pink streaked the horizon outside the kitchen window.

 

The multicolored Christmas lights draped from tree and mantel had some competition on Saturday morning, after days of gloom. I decided to leave the artificial lights behind for a few minutes to see God's light show.

The hay bales had a Christmas-cookie-like glaze on top.

 

Roadside weeds looked less like trash and more like jewels as the moisture-drenched leaves shimmered in the rising sun.

Frost on winter wheat fields glimmered on green.

Cows were black shapes in the damp, foggy morning, as they grazed on "Frosted Flake" wheat fields. 

Since the snow last Thursday, it had been overcast. We didn't get as much snow here on the County Line as some locations in Kansas.

But the wet snow clung to the winter wheat crop, giving it another boost of moisture, added to the 0.40" of rain we'd gotten earlier last week.

That's a Christmas present that you can't wrap up and put under the tree. But it's a blessing nonetheless. So was a frosty sunrise ...

Snapshot Kansas - Moisture

August 2012

This week's challenge on Snapshot Kansas is "moisture." We got 0.30" of rain yesterday morning, and every little bit helps. However, we certainly didn't have any scenes like sunset clouds reflected in  puddles along our dirt road. Those have been few and far between as Kansas has experienced drought at every corner for the past four years.

May 2014

My best "moisture" photo from this spring doesn't qualify for Snapshot Kansas. It was taken in Oklahoma City, where a planned outdoor wedding moved inside because of rain. We Kansas people watched the radar and wished we could send it home.

So, I searched the archives to come up with some "moisture" photos.

April 2012

The color version of this dew-glistening wheat stalk is blown up to 16- by 20-inch canvas size in my living room. It's part of a "To everything there is a season" photo grouping.

Photo by P.J. Griekspoor, Kansas Farmer magazine, Master Farmer-Homemaker article

It's my "Spring" photo. I like it in black and white, too. I haven't had many opportunities to re-enact these dewy photos this spring.

April 2012

Since I'm not a gardener, I have to find water features in other people's gardens, like on the Stafford Garden Tour a couple years ago ...

June 2012 - Stafford Garden Tour - Sherre Mawhirter's garden

... or during one of our visits to Botanica in Wichita.

March 2011 - Botanica

But even this non-gardener can find moisture on early morning walks. It just means opening my eyes to the beauty. 

May 2013 - a foggy morning

God's garden is well-tended ... without any help from me.

April 2011

August 2010

August 2010

Here's praying there will be more opportunities to take "moisture" photos this summer.