For the past two weeks, we’ve been in the land of 10,000 lakes. It wasn’t Minnesota. It was Texas.
It rained nearly every day we were there. Water was standing everywhere, in lakes, in ditches, in fields, in ponds, in puddles. We drove through torrential rains, with water over the roads and full ditches alongside. You’ve heard of driving in white-out conditions in blizzards? We hit watered-out conditions under a thunderstorm. Our windshield wipers couldn’t keep up with the buckets that were falling. We found a safe place to get off the road and wait for the storm to move over us.
What wasn’t underwater was very green. And in places, very tall. Yards are hard to mow when they’re constantly wet.
We drove past miles of fields that had flooded areas in them. Some fields were planted but the crop wasn’t very high. In other fields, it looked like it had been too muddy to plant. I felt very sorry for the farmers because it doesn’t look like a good year for them.
On the other side of the centuries-old feud, the ranchers are enjoying a great year. The cattle look fat and well fed. Livestock ponds were brim full. Windmills are turning and oil pumps are rocking. Cutting hay will be problematic with all the rain, but it can be done. We saw hay bales all over the place.
Hubby and I hadn’t driven south since before the pandemic. As we made our way through four states, I’m happy to report that a good wheat crop in Nebraska, Colorado, and Texas looks like it’s ready to harvest if the rain and winds don’t knock it down. We saw several threshers ready to roll.
I attended the West Texas Writers Academy and saw several writer friends. They inspired me to plot two books in an upcoming historical fiction series. There weren’t many there this year, but it was still a good session. I hope more will get to come next year.
Most of all, it was great to see family and friends and give and receive hugs. I really missed that. That was the best part of the trip for me.
It was nice seeing all the sights again, but I took the few photos on this trip. I was enjoying visiting so much I forgot. But I’ll leave you with one last shot taken in Julesburg, Colorado. A lot of history has taken place in that area. This shot is from the rest area where they celebrate the Cheyenne who used to live in the area and the Pony Express which used to go through that area. Wagons on the Oregon trail went through there as well. Read up on it. When we went through, the city was having trouble with the water system. I hope they’ll have it fixed when we got through again.
Rain has always been a farmers best friend and his worst. We enjoy the food we buy with little thought to the struggles of the farmer. I grow a garden and wonder how mankind has survived.
I enjoy visiting locations of history. Visual items help to see the struggles and methods used to survive and move forward.
So glad you survived the danger of the rains and had a good visit and class!
Thanks for the blog. Love reading about your adventures rain and all
Great trip and conference!