Rain, I Am Not Going to Complain

Monsoon season is upon us. Yes, it is wet. The first topic of conversation with anyone is about how much it has rained in the past couple of weeks. Honestly, I am not sure. Each day seems like the movie Groundhog Day because every morning I walk outside and dump between a half inch and an inch of rain out of the gauge. I have forgotten the total, and it probably wouldn’t matter because I can’t count that high anyway.

The next topic, especially from my non-farming friends is if I am tired of the rain yet. My immediate answer is a resounding no. I am a long way from complaining about the rain. Sure all of my soybean seed is safely tucked away in the shed and the brome grass is getting more mature by the day. Things are going to be really busy when it does dry out, but I am not going to complain.

 I am tire of the mud. Just this morning I walked out into the pasture to retrieve the kids 4-H steers. That is a story in and of itself, but we will leave that for another time. Each step brought the squish of fully saturated soil and suction against my rubber boot. Oh by the way, I also discovered a hole in my left boot, there is nothing worse than wet socks. However, I refuse to complain about the recent rains.

I have moved the animals in the lots several times and built temporary fences just to give them dry places to lie down. Still the lots are nearly deeper than my knee boots, yes, the same knee boots with a leaky left sole. I believe the animals are even more tired of the mud than I am. Still you will hear no complaints about the rain from me.

Each morning I clean wet feed out of the lamb feeders. There is nothing that burns me more than wasting feed and cleaning wet feed out of feeders has to be one of the worst jobs on the place. Each night I lay in bed and my knees ache from walking through the mud (it has to be from the mud, it can’t be because I put too much strain on them). Even then, I will not complain about the mud or the rain that made it.

OK, so you get my point, I will not complain about rain. Sure I might whine about it, but I will not complain. My theory is if we complain too much, it will cause it not to rain again for a very long time and we will all complain about how dry it is. I will not be responsible for scaring the rain off. It is easier to try to figure out what to do with too much rain than not enough.

I also have problems complaining about the rain when many of my Western Kansas friends have so desperately needed rain for the last several years. It is good to see them getting some of this precipitation and I will not do anything to jinx them. Maybe they can grow the crops they so desperately need.

After all there are few things better than going to sleep with raindrops falling on the roof and the smell of rain coming through the window on a light breeze. Right now I am enjoying the croaking of the frogs and the babbling of the creek right outside my window. The pastures and trees have never been greener. It is all very relaxing.

We need all the relaxation we can get because we know just how busy it will be when it does finally dry out. Any of us who have lived in Kansas for any amount of time know that the next drought is just a few days away and that will lead to a flurry of pent up work that needs to be done. Then we will all be wishing for a rainy day to rest up.

Most of all I am reminded at times like this of something Dad is always telling me. There is no reason to worry about the weather because there is nothing you can do about it. That won’t keep me from grumbling when water seeps through that left boot or whining when my knees hurt at night. But it will make me appreciate the rain and not complain about it. Well that is for now anyway.