By Bill Anderson

Well, here we are: the Summer Solstice, the mid-point of the Solar Year, was 3 weeks ago; June 30, the end of the first half of the calendar year, was 2 weeks ago; and, the 4^th of July, Independence Day, the mid-point of Summer vacation, was just a week and a half ago. Only 5 weeks to go until the kids head back to school. Ain’t that a pip!? Sun, rain, wind and heat continue their work, though, no matter what the calendar, or the School Board, says. The thunderstorm that brought rain to this area on the evening of July 2 and morning of Tuesday, July 3, deposited .5 of an inch on Rutland, according to Roger Pearson’s rain gauge, while the gauge of his next-door neighbor, Norbert Kulzer, recorded .6 of an inch. Everything is back to normal. Another rain on the evening of Sunday, July 8, a Thunderstorm that rolled through at about 8:00 p.m. left .2 of an inch in Roger Pearson’s rain gauge and also .2 of an inch next door, at Norbert Kulzer’s.  Jesse Brakke reported .4 of an inch at his farmstead between Rutland & Cayuga, Jim Lunneborg .65 of an inch at his farm in Shuman Township and Rick Bosse .8 of an inch on Sunday evening, and another .18 at about Midnight to bring the total at Brampton to just under an inch. But that’s not all! The next thunder and lightning show started at about 3:00 a.m. on Tuesday, July 10, and dropped about .75 of an inch of rain on Rutland, with more to the west and southwest, as Rick Bosse reported another inch at Brampton and Judee Silseth reported 1.4 inch at the Silseth farm southwest of Silver Lake. Paul Anderson reports that his electronic rain gauge has recorded nearly 10 inches of rain at Rutland since the 1st of June. By contrast, only about 1.5 inch of precipitation was received during the months of April and May. Some wheat fields in the area are beginning to exhibit that greenish, golden hue that indicates the first round of harvest activity may be commencing around the end of July.  The wheat crop looks very good right now, but, as we know, “…it’s never as good as it looks from the road,” and that’s the truth!

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