Hurry Up and Wait

Hurry up and wait.

That seems to be the theme around here. Randy spent part of his Sunday afternoon driving around and checking farm ground and pastures, trying to figure out where they could get in the field this week. Water covered half of northbound road to the Rattlesnake Pasture, and he was thinking he should have skipped the trip. But he made it without getting stuck, thankfully!

But, after another 0.40" of unexpected rain Monday morning, we are back to a holding pattern. Even with cooler-than-normal temperatures and excess moisture, the wheat is starting to turn. 

I hope it will hold out until after June 13. I am supposed to be our church's representative to the Great Plains annual conference of the United Methodist Church. It includes all the UMChurches in Kansas and Nebraska. Back when it was just the Kansas West conference, we met at the end of May. It's obvious that those planning the conference have no connection to rural Kansas or Nebraska or to rural life in general.

The rain may have again slowed down farm work. But it provided some pretty window dressing for our backyard blooms.

Do you like the HDR treatment above or the non-altered version below?

I kind of feel like the eye doctor, asking questions like that: Is this one better (HDR version of the lavender by the wash house) ...

... or do you like this one better?

Pretty either way, don't you think?

There's no question which of these "pictures" I like best. The new Kansas drought map, dated May 26, shows marked improvement on drought conditions in the state.

Here's the map from just a month ago:

It's been one of the wettest Mays on record. Wichita, with 11.77 inches, and Great Bend, with 10.36 inches, both tabulated the second wettest May, while Kanopolis Lake, Tribune and Colby had enough to make it the third wettest.

And while more raindrops on the forecast map make it hard to decide whether or not to put down our first cutting of alfalfa, it's been a long time since Kansas had so few counties affected by drought. 

When we compare it to March 2013, we definitely should count our blessings along with the raindrops.