WHAT A BUMMER!
By: James Neuhouser
May is here and it’s colder than billy. As I write May will be here this week and it’s 57°. This week there is a high of 51° several days and the day the West Bend News comes out it is supposed to be a high of 66, then back into the ’50s for the first full week of May.
I have written before that spring is my favorite time of the year but this is ridiculous. I don’t know if this is winter or winter. Just seems to put a damper on the entire thing. I love the month of May and in Indiana it is capped off by the Indy 500.
This morning I heard reports of a certain percentage of corn already planted and a certain percentage already up. My son and I have a saying, when the corn is up, Christmas is not far behind. The corn grows then it is harvested and then Christmas. I always considered May 10th to be frost-free and I could plant tomatoes. Everything is early this year, but we could have a late frost.
I always look at the 10-day forecast, and they are surprisingly accurate even most times to the degree. It says May 1st and 2nd as a low up 32°. Didn’t think it would frost that late. I forgot to check for rain. It shows of possibility of rain Wednesday and Thursday, number 6&7.
It seems our weather is wacky doodle, and it started in my lifetime. My dad was a truck farmer and in the ’70s or ’80s, (1970’s), I thought I would try my hand at raising a crop of sweet corn and taking it to market. You heard the saying if it rains on Easter it rains for 7 Sundays. Well that year that it was gospel. I planted every Saturday and it pounded it in every Sunday. I never got a decent stand no matter how much I rotary hoed. So much for being a truck farmer.
But seriously it seems like we’ve had a wet fall, goofy spring or fall, every year since that time. Before that it seemed like we had pretty decent weather. The trouble with spring is it goes by too quickly. You’ve heard the saying. It just seems like the time flies by, but in a way it just keeps going on and on.
Seems like you plan something months ahead, and before you know it it is here and gone. A wise first grade teacher gave my grandson the assignment of having his grandparents write a letter to be opened on his 19th birthday. The letter was written but completely forgotten until we tore down an old bookcase and found it. It was opened this year on his 20th birthday. So many memories in a time much different than 14 years ago.
