Soggy Bottom Boys

Here in the arid dry lands we aren't used to a lot of weather. Mild winters turn this area into a banana belt with a growing season that usually stretches from March until October. We are blessed with irrigation water from both the mighty Columbia and the winding Snake Rivers. The "desert" blooms and we have a booming agricultural community.  This spring was lookin' mighty fine. Back in the start of April we hit a few days that had highs of 80+. The doomsayers immediately started screaming, "drought, drought!" The rest of us just shed our sweatshirts and turned our thoughts to opening the pools no later than May 1.

There is, of course, a saying about not counting your chickens before they hatch.

Things cooled down a bit.

Then the rain came. And stayed.

Photo by Scott Butner of Richland, WA - April Storm Over Rattlesnake Mountain

 We've had some pretty impressive storms as of late. The above photo does not need to be photo shopped. It really does get that dark in the middle of the day here when the rain storms move in. Kind of scary. Mowing the lawn is a challenge. Trying to get to it when it's dry takes some reallll timing. Nice & green tho....but my cantaloupes & watermelon? Liking this? Not so much. Are their leaves supposed to be yellow??

Today's newspaper even has an editorial about the rain. Noting that this is supposed to be the land that boasts 300 days of sunshine and less than 12" of precipitation for the year.

Dry land wheat farmers are eating it up. Hay & cherry farmers? You can start playing a funeral dirge for them. They're well into the "suck it up" mode.

So some wit, named Mike Lauman, writes a letter to the editor. And he says:

Enough with this bad joke of sending all this rain our way. This is supposed to be a desert area, remember?


If I wanted a lot of rain I'd live in Seattle, get a lobotomy, pay attention to the liberal media and become a fan of Chris (Gregoire), Patty (Murray), and Maria (Cantwell) and spend my days stuck in traffic.


No thanks!

I knew it! I knew it! It's all a liberal plot...but liberals or not, I may have to  break down and buy an umbrella.
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