Rain is a good thing… honestly… in Wyoming’s dry climate, water is scarce. On Wyoming ranches everything is based on limited water. Reservoirs and pipelines to water cattle. Irrigation for crops and hay. Wells for drinking. Snow runoff captured to help through the ‘dry’ summer heat. Well. Actually. We haven’t hit that ‘dry’ heat spell yet.
We’re Irish green. New Zealand green. Greener than we’ve been in years. It’s great. It is. The cattle are loving the grass and the coolness. They’re probably getting fat in record average daily gain.
But sheesh.
Really?
I don’t know how much we’ve received in total, but we’re *way* ahead after years of drought. Riverton and Lander in central Wyoming are flooding. The National Guard has been called out. The Wind River Mountains above them received 15″ of SNOW last night. It’s due to melt Tuesday and flood them again. Boysen Dam, Pathfinder Reservoir, and others are filled to capacity and are flushing some record Cubic Feet in anticipation of even more water.
On days like today, if I lived in a town, I’d take these rainy days and go to a bookstore and slowly browse the aisles. I’d discover an antique dresser or vintage picture of an English Shepherd amongst the piles of Victorian miscellany. I’d swing by a little shop and savor some vanilla chai and warm donut. I’d go to a lively performance of the College National Finals Rodeo, and cheer on the Casper College team.
But I live here. On a remote Wyoming ranch. So I watch it rain. I watch television. I watch it rain. I watch my frustrated keystrokes *not* create the Photoshop frame I worked an hour on. I watch it rain. I work on the Mills house and chicken out from welding because it’s 46 degrees and wet. I watch it rain. I clean my house. I watch it rain. I watch television. I watch it rain. I scan my computer… and check again. Yup. Raining.
Rain is a *good* thing.
It is.
<sigh>
