Can't Get Much Nicer

It has been a while since we have gotten any real rain at the farm.  After the last several years of excessive rain and continuous puddle season, we are actually... sort of... enjoying the dry.  That tells you how wet we've been when we actually are kind of enjoying a drought.  I will admit that a nice soaking rain would be welcomed at the farm, but we're still nervous about even hoping about rain too hard.  The last time we did that, it didn't stop... for like, three years.

So, how do you know it is a drought?  The scattered rain showers for your area look like the cloud at the top (just to the right of the high tunnel).  Yep, that was last night's rain shower.  We did a tad bit better in the morning with some real thunder and maybe five hundredths of an inch of rain.

As we enter the month of September, we bid farewell to summertime.  Yes, it is true that we are bound to have some more hot, sunny days with a good bit of humidity.  But, it is also true that we will again see lows in the 40s (probably early this morning) and the watch for the first frost will officially begin on the farm (our guess is officially Sept 26/27 this year).

Just this past week, we had some pretty serious heat and humidity.  Granted, people who live in Florida and Alabama laugh at us for our brief forays into that type of weather - but it was pretty difficult to work hard in it for an extended period of time.  There is a good reason for the 'siesta' model of doing things sometimes.   Apparently the "Iowa approach" is to just fight your way through it and then pay the next day when you overdo it.

Anyway, after the last batch of hot, things cooled down quite a bit.  We had light winds, beautiful blue skies and not too many gnats and mosquitoes to put a damper on things.  The impending full moon lights our way as we do chores and the air has that nice, soft feel that happens only on nights like these.  

You see, we really enjoy evenings like this because we ARE outside frequently.  We must go out and do chores every morning and every evening - regardless of the weather and in spite of biting insects or muddy grounds.  We recognize there is beauty in all sorts of weather during all times of the year.  But, we also realize nights like these... they do not happen all that often.  Even more important, nights like these don't often happen when we aren't so bone tired that we just can't build up the gumption to enjoy them.

Yes, we DO enjoy nice evenings AS we are doing our chores.  I am making a fine distinction here.  The difference I am trying to highlight is that we rarely stop and sit for a while to simply absorb how beautiful it all is.  That's the difference.  We hope you will also find a way to enjoy evenings like these too.