It's Not Nice To Fool Mother Nature!

Some of us of a certain age recall a TV commercial for Chiffon Soft Stick Margarine in the late 1970s – one of the memorable ads with "Mother Nature" uttering her famous line, "It's not nice to fool Mother Nature!" 

This was back in the day when you had no choice but to watch the commercials. So we all new the popular ad slogans whether it was "Madge, you're soaking in it" to "Please don't squeeze the Charmin!" And we all were intimidated by Mother Nature.

Let's just say I forgot about her power.

I've been staging a silent protest. Obviously, a fruitless one. I decided that if she doesn't do her job of giving us rain FOR 23 DAYS IN A ROW then I don't need to do my "job" (ha) of blogging.

I surrender! This is our crispy crackly yard! She wins. Dang. 

We have finally gotten a teeny tiny bit of precipitation. In fact, Friday night when I was getting steps around the neighborhood, it started sprinkling and I kept walking. It was refreshing! Also I hadn't showered in 2 days so you know... two birds, one stone.

Today in church when we heard the familiar 5 loaves and 2 fish story, I thought maybe that's a sign for a miracle. The Weather Channel does not agree. And when I went out to try to resurrect my flowers – time of death was called last week – a snake slithered under the deck. So now I have to deal with satan AND Mother Nature! 

Our couples golf league finale tonight didn't lean the way of miracles either! Still fun though! And the grass was green! 

These days that's winning.

Shut Up!

Thanks to AI probably, my favorite "It's so hot it's madness" cartoon is now a bit more 3-D-ish. Still makes me laugh. 

Despite dripping in sweat.

I went outside two times today. Once mid-morning to water my hopelessly fried flower baskets. And then after work to get a few trifle ingredients and supplies for a family reunion. I really thought the chocolate would melt before that 8-minute commute home. 

Oooof. Car just couldn't cool off.

Turns out our 92-degree high in Rapids was 10 degrees "warmer" than average. And you know I love summer. I'm 100% solar powered. But dang, this is gross.

On the flip side, the A/C is so cool in the house I had my little space heater running in my office today. 

Yes, I am officially at the age where my body doesn't know what it needs or what it wants or what to do with it when I got it!

Just breathe, stay hydrated, and be safe my friends. I promise not to whine about the weather tomorrow. (Honest... it's Trifle Tuesday!)

Hello, HOT-ober!

Pretty sure I've given up on keeping up with Mother Nature's mood swings. Crying for days on end and now she's having hot flashes. If I didn't know any better, I'd think she was my age and we were tackling this stage of life together! 

You understand now why "the change" is not all pretty leaves and apples and pumpkins?!

After having the heat on last week, I can't believe it got to 87 (at least) in Wisconsin Rapids.

I fact it was already about 80 degrees at 11 a.m. so Sylvester and I sat out on the swing for our pregame warmup. (Since the Pack played Thursday night our boys were on TV here for once.) About halftime, when the Vikings were bumbling their way around North Carolina, we almost went back outside.

But they're like a bad accident. You can't drive by without looking. No matter how ugly the scene.

Now, I'm glad we did. Since we finally FINALLY got our first win of the season! If you though the drought this summer was long. It wasn't 10 months long! So yay. SKOL!

Thankfully it cooled down to reasonable 80s temps by 4:30 p.m. when I had a senior photo shoot. I mean I love hot weather, but I don't want my subjects melting – especially after they purposely waited until FALL for pictures. 

We made it work, though. Got some cool baseball ones and then out to some fields for more fall-like pictures. Including this winner...

I was taking some bow hunting pictures and saw the fall colors in the sky and had a different idea. No, you can't see this kiddo's face, but I thought it was pretty kick-ass anyway! Can't wait to go through the rest but, hey, that 3-day weekend sped by. The alarm returnith tomorrow.

Let's have a good October! Keep it real, Mother Nature!

You Need to Move Along, Noah

Figures that after months of drought conditions, we've had non-stop rain for days. Like inches per day at a time. I know we need it, but dang, it's been ill-timed. First, Saturday for the wedding and now today for a senior photo shoot. But I survived both and made the best of it. 

Take that, Noah!

It reminded me to step outside and try to capture some artsy-fartsy rain pictures.

Weird thing. It seems like rain drops only collect on the backside of pretty leaves. 

Maybe that's not always the case, but definitely in my yard anyway. Still, very pretty, if you ask me!

I was glad it lightened up a bit for my photo shoot this afternoon. And since the young man wanted to wear a baseball cap for most of it, he was cool with it. Thank goodness it wasn't a girl with hair issues! 

I guess there's positives in everything. We just have to look for it. Even if they are soggy!

Hang Man

Remember Hang Man? It was my generation's version of Wordle. We had to guess the letters and ultimately the word before each wrong guess meant a drawn round head, stick body, two stick arms and two stick legs.

My version of Hang Man this summer has been Hanging Flower Baskets Man. Every 100 degree day, they get closer to their death. Every day without rain (a lot), still closer. Now, they be pretty much dead.

Did I kill them or did they just not have what it takes?

Oh my. This could be what inspired Crunchy Crunchy Day. I won't confirm or deny if this was part of my recipe.

Darn two black thumbs!

To my credit. I kept my son alive 18+ years at home. And Jim's still tickin'! 

Fun at 91

The second heat wave of summer just happened to coincide with the first night of golf league at SentryWorld. My 3 co-workers and I were probably more ready for the heat than we were for that "brutal rough" the Senior Open guys struggled with. And Jim and me, too, when we golfed there a few weeks ago.

Still, we hydrated with various forms of liquid and had a blast.

SentryWorld is always challenging but we're in the "recreational" league so who cares? Our scores literally don't matter. And that rough, well, it can just hide our balls and have them.

Oh yeah, I totally lost 3 allegedly easy-to-see neon yellow-green balls tonight.

I mean the pros were stymied by the 9th hole – my FOX hole – so it only makes sense we should be, too. I actually didn't lose a ball here. They just ricocheted off the rocks and did not give me "kicks of love." Also... no fox sightings tonight. I'm sure the humidity messes with their fragile red hair!

I'm just thankful I had a barrette and a hair tie to get my hot hair of my face and neck! And also thankful for purple flowers at the finish line!

Uff da. Be careful in this heat the next few days!

P.S. If you were following along with Jim and me and the state 17U Legion Tournament, our boys claimed the state title tonight with a walk-off single!

Move over 91 degrees. We know how to handle you and have a great time doing it!

Happy Winds, er Mon-Day

All of the severe weather traveling through Wisconsin this evening is featuring 60 mph winds. Not surprised since the wind chimes outside of my office windows have been going crazy all day. Think they're shooting for some classic rock or heavy metal melodies versus the usual tink-tinkling relaxation vibe.

We can also tell its windy by our new wind gauge. Also known as a "spinner" or something.

Jim got this pretty yard ornament from his sister for his birthday. 

And today it was spinning so fast, I was sure it was going to lifted from the ground!

Also, note in the background how much drier and browner our grass has become in one week. Uff da. Was a high of 91 today. I took a lunch break with Mr. Deck Chair but I didn't have the stamina. Ha. Sorry, dude.

I'm never one for wishing for rain, but yeah, my flowers need it. My grass needs it. And all those farmers around here need it 100 times more! I do believe it's coming this week.

And conveniently working around my golf schedule Thursday and Saturday. For now. 

I won't be selfish. 

Ok. I will. But I'll try not to mention it. 

Have a great week, everyone!

Water Under-Over the Bridge

I feel bad for all the areas of the United States dealing with drought-like conditions while we had another inch and a half of rain overnight. And now we are in a flood warning. And it shows.

Morning walk around Lake Wazeecha and the dam on the west end could hardly keep up.

Much of our walking path on the north side of the lake is under water. you can see the lake in the distance. About halfway between here (the road) and there is where the walking path (both paved and gravel) usually goes. How crazy!

And if you can see the item floating and actually stuck on the sand bar on the east end by the bridge, that's someone's dock.

And back at Blue Jay Drive... The usually low – and sometimes almost dry – Bloody Run Creek is inching into our back yard.

Hubby usually mows up to the row of trees. So that's a lot! Not enough to go fishing or skinny dipping. But more than usual. Probably means the mosquito population will triple in the coming days. Uff da.

August will have to do a March lion and lamb thing. August came in like a lamb and goes out like a Sea Lion.

Be careful out there!

A Soaker

This was the Monday-est Tuesday ever. The first issue was waking at 2:10 a.m. – and still looking at the clock at 3:56 a.m., trying to fall back asleep. No reason. Probably just an old lady thing. The issue was that is was so dark this morning. 

Oh I'm not talking 6 a.m. More like 9 a.m. when dark clouds parked overhead and the thunder rolled. And the rain fell.

Boy did it fall! We had two rounds of rain in about a two hour span and it dropped just about 2 1/2 inches!

Crazy. So yeah, I wanted to crawl into bed and nap. At many times today. But powered through.

No promises for tonight, though. I have had a productive few hours since getting done with work. Almost halfway done with a baby blanket for a new great-niece to love. (Congrats to my nephew David and family!) while knocking off two Hallmark movies from my DVR queue.

Oh I can multi-task with the best of them! 

Must be all this free time since I didn't have to water my flowers today.

 

Sounds Like Spring

During my walk last evening, I saw weird clouds like little marshmallows or cotton balls. I knew we were supposed to get rain, but I wondered what this type would bring.

Turns out, they bring thunder and lots of lightning! In the middle of the night, of course. One of my sisters in Minnesota snapped this picture earlier in the night, so I knew it was coming. We always get their weather eventually.

Since it's been in the high 70s/low 80s this week, we've slept with the windows open. That's how I heard the big boomers loud and clear. But today, dry again and sunny. I did hear thunder in mid-afternoon. Strange. It was sunny and thundery out.

Rain is supposed to be coming. We need it. We're in high weather danger here and pretty much all of Wisconsin. Probably Minnesota, too. 

Be smart out there. Hold off on burning that weekend warrior pile of branches and grass. Hold off on that socially distanced campfire a little longer, too. It's the little things that we never think are going to start something big. Think it through.

In the meantime, put out your rain gauge. That's our version of a rain dance around here. Well, the only one you'd want to see anyway! 

 

Can't Soak It All In

We've been begging for rain for weeks and now it came. All. At. Once.

It's like the faucet opened on Sunday afternoon and no one can shut it off. Yes, we need the rain. But not so much so fast. The soil doesn't have the capability to soak it all in!

Just to the south of us in the Wisconsin Dells area they have had 10.4 inches of rain (and counting) in the past 48 hours. They're dealing with some flash flooding right now. Lots of places are.

Thankfully, so far, we are OK on our waterfront property. Which is only "waterfront" when there is a ton of rain so the Bloody Run Creek actually has water. It is not often the case.

And naturally, golf league was canceled this evening. Not completely because of the rain, but the accompanying sound and light show. If I could escape lightning while kayaking I am certainly not going to push my luck and golf in it!

So I spent an evening in. Sorting through a ton of photos from volleyball last night. And now will start studying. Fantasy Football draft tomorrow night!

The Swedish Chef Mafia has work to do!!

Be safe – and dry – out there.

Drought Monitor

A local news channel released this recent Drought Monitor. The areas in yellow – which include Wood County just below and left of Stevens Point – are considered abnormally dry. While the new areas in tan are now upgraded to moderate drought.

I could have told you that! Our whole yard plus my effort at landscaping plants and flowers are dead. Brown. Dry. Dead. The Robyn Drought Monitor is off the charts.

But I'll take my crispy flowers to wildfires any day. This evening we had somewhat smoky skies again due to wildfires north and west. Like way north (Canada) and way west (California). That's crazy. Makes for a pretty picture but that's about it. C'mon rain clouds!

Granted I didn't want rain Wednesday due to golf. And probably it should skirt around Adams County to the south tomorrow when hubby has his big golf day. But other than that, break on open, clouds!

Since we didn't have rain, the opening of high school football kicked off tonight. The Royals were way down in Whitefish Bay (just north of Milwaukee), where I just heard they lost 9-6. Since I wasn't able to travel for that, I took some pictures of my friend Nicki's son playing for Port Edwards.

Here he is (#24) about to assist on a tackle. It was very strange watching 8-man football but a lot of smaller schools are turning to that these days to keep their program going. Port lost to Phillips, 38-8, but it was still fun to see my girlfriend – and see high school football again!

School is not in session yet but all the other fall sports will swing into action next week, too. Just in time for College Man to start his summer "vacation." Yup. Today was his last day at the paper mill. To say he is glad it's over is an understatement. But he did earn some decent cash this summer and had a life lesson about hot, dirty, manual labor.

I think a nice rain would be refreshing for ALL of us!

Waterfront Property

With our recent heat wave and total lack of rain, I'd be surprised if we've had an inch of precipitation in August. Of course, I could look it up but I like to pretend I know things! Plus, I have had to water those three flower plants every day so I KNOW it hasn't been raining.

Today, the temps started to cool down finally and it was sprinkling on and off this morning. I had to run home at lunch to take care of some paperwork. It was lightly raining, but as soon as I parked in the garage, a downpour began.

If you ever wondered what happens when a month's worth of rain falls in 5 minutes, you go from country home to waterfront property. Real fast!

Isn't that insane? It has been so dry that the ground couldn't soak up the water as fast as it was arriving. 

When it stopped, I headed back to work and wondered how Carter was going to get into his car for cross country practice later in the afternoon. Through the trunk, maybe?

As it turned out, the ground eventually caught up and drank up the abundant rain. So he had no problem going to practice. The farmers around here are happy. And I didn't have to water my flowers tonight!

Everybody wins.

Refreshments Served

It hasn't rained in a month and when it does, Mother Nature goes overboard with it. Rain, lightning, thunder, the works. We already had one quick power outage so I am typing fast before another one.

After seeing that awful brown grass in our yard today, I was so grateful just to hear that rain pouring down. How refreshing for the grass and trees! They have to be soaking it up and loving it.

I think there is very severe weather headed to other parts of Wisconsin -- like where we work -- which seems typical when you have a storm after a hot and humid day.

Today Carter had two cross country practices so he could feel every every degree of that 90-plus heat and every ounce of that humidity. I doubt it can really toughen him up for those late summer, hot CC meets, but it does help to experience it and survive it without puking or fainting.

I realize that which doesn't kill you only makes you stronger. However, Carter seemed pretty weak when I picked him up each time.

I worked from home today so I could shuttle him back and forth for practice. It was even too hot for me to take a long break with Mr. Deck Chair. That is just about unheard of in my circle, isn't it?

We've got the air cranked in the house, so I am bundled up from head to toe and had my blanket turned on already. I just realized that shut off during the power blink, so now I have to stay up late until I have a warm bed.

Because I am a Princess.

And for today at least, Mother Nature "rains" as the Queen.

Hydration Help

I woke last night to the sound of thunder... Oh wait, that sounds like a Bob Seger song. But I did wake to the sound of thunder and rain, wonderful, rain.

On our commute to work this morning, it rained so hard, it was hard to see the road sometimes. But we didn't care. When we got to work, hubby dropped me off at the door since I didn't have that umbrella I  last used for protection from the sun. Today, I wouldn't have cared if I had wet, flat hair. It was so good to see so much rain.

Finally!

The other day I actually forced Carter to mow the front yard. Not that there was any grass, but there were tall weeds sporadically shooting up and we looked like we lived in the ghetto. So I get things set for him and make sure there's enough gas. You know it's been a dry summer when there are cobwebs on the mower and the gas can. Seriously!

I just hope the rains we had today help the regular grass grow again. The skies had cleared by midday and I'm not sure if there is any more moisture coming our way, but even a little hydration helps.

Something Carter is learning in his running routines, too. Drought not good. Too much water not good. Hydration in moderation is the best.

Of course, what does hydration matter when the neighbor takes him out for lunch at the Chatter Box Cafe and our unthinking boy downs 2 pancakes, 2 eggs over easy, 2 sausage links and a piece of apple pie with ice cream for dessert. All this less than 4 hours before practice today. I guess we should start with food consumption in moderation first!

And pray hydration keeps coming as we need it.

Rain Dancing with the Stars

We continue to deal with drought conditions and Mother Nature is just sitting there teasing us.

Tonight Carter had a baseball game at the Kellner Field. Since the temps had cooled down to the 80s, I decided to get my steps in a walk over there. It's less than 3 miles, but during that time, very dark clouds came from behind me, hovered over me, then moved on toward the ball park. At any time I expected them to break open and drench me. Didn't happen.

When I got to the game, we could hear some rumbling but saw no lightning.

For a few minutes. Once they spotted it, they had to wait the obligatory 30 minutes to resume play. They didn't have to wait that long. Lightning was seen shortly after and the game was called.

For at least another half hour, it has been thundering and lightning but not a drop, not one, of rain.

I was just chastising Mother Nature for her cruelty... but now I have to bite my tongue. Rain drops are falling. FINALLY. Unfortunately, I see sunny skies in the distance so it won't last long enough.

I still might get a chance to break out my rain dance. It's sort of like the Macarena, isn't it?

I've obviously been doing it wrong so far!

Serenity now!

It's been a pretty dry summer. Our lawn is patchy with 6-inch weeds some places and brown spots in others. In Door County this weekend, there was a campfire ban on the island and one of the golf courses had places where I hit off of dirt.

I'm experiencing a different kind of drought, too. My "well" of patience and tolerance has run dry!

It's just been one of those weeks where I want the world to grow up, act its age, be responsible, care, share, give back. It's such a small request, isn't it?

I've had a discouraging few days where in my "service" work, I am running into people who don't want to volunteer (always the same people doing all the work) and in my "work" work, I am running into people who don't want to work (always the same people doing all the work).

I guess the frustrating part is that I am one of those "same people." I am reminded that I don't have to be. I don't have to say "yes" to every opportunity. But I think if I am responsible and capable at this point in my life, I should say yes. I should help. I should give back.

What I also have to remind myself is that others are better at saying "no." And I can't change that ... or them.

Have you heard of the Serenity Prayer? "God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference."

I say that prayer every day. Partly because I am a manager, partly because I am a mother, partly because I am a wife, and mainly because I'm human. My shortened version of the prayer is: "Serenity now!" (I got that one from Seinfeld and I love it.)

I do feel better when I say it/think it. I know I cannot change anyone. I can only change how I react to them. Just writing about it now is helping me. I am in a better place already.

I still may need to do a rain dance so I can fill up my well of patience and tolerance. I should also top off my wells of gratitude, unselfishness, commitment ... thankfully (for everyone who has to "deal" with me lately) I see clouds on the horizon.