Last week marked another rainy and cold week in the middle of the summer. It's hard to believe how rainy and cool it's been this year, given the way the weather has been the past few years.

Of course, by the time you actually get around to reading this, it might be 90 degrees and sunny. That's just the way it goes when writing a column that only comes out once a week.

There have been more than a few times when I went outside this summer and would have sworn it was fall or spring if I hadn't known better. I really like cool weather, but even I am starting to miss the hot, dry summer days that we typically have.

The cool and wet summer might also bode ominous tidings on the coming winter, at least according to one report I've read.

I was checking out a longterm forecast by a well-known meteorologist who predicts a snowy winter this year.

According to the predictions, we should expect the winter to be much colder and much more snowy than any we've seen in the past decade.

He gave past examples, like one in the early 1970s and another in the early 2000s. However, I personally don't remember any summer ever being this wet and damp, but maybe it's because my memory is short.

The kind of rain we've been getting has been the dreary, foggy, misty kind with occasional downpours. Most of the summer rains I remember have come quickly in the evening after a hot, sunny day and sometimes resulted in thunderstorms.

You know, we've not had many of those like I seem to remember. How long has it been since a long thunderstorm has taken place, with long streaks of lightning? I've seen a few flashes now and then, but no major thunderstorms. It's all been good for the water tables, I'm sure.

We've needed the rain for several years and the kind that falls all day is the kind that best soaks into the ground.

Snow also does wonders for the water table, but we've not been getting much of that the past few years. Well, we did have more this past year than the year or two prior, but I guess we're all really due for a cold, snowy winter.

The kids will be happy if that prediction comes true, especially since they typically complain because we don't get enough snow. However, after seeing it for several weeks straight, it loses its appeal.

I can always enjoy the first few snows and usually the late ones that come in March or so, but when it comes to all the multitude that can come in the middle on a particularly snowy year, I don't relish the thought.

As for the current conditions, the flowers around the house seem to be enjoying the rain more than anything else. The rose of sharon in front of the house has grown a great deal this year and is thickly coated with blooms. In fact, it is so tall and bloom-laden that the top of it weeps over to the side when the flowers fill with water after a heavy rain. Some of the irises got so tall and heavy with flowers that they fell over.

The slugs and frogs are doing pretty well, too. On a brighter note, the number of lightning bugs appears to be greatly increased this year. An article on lightning bugs that I recently perused said they feed on slugs and wet weather helps slugs do better and thus benefits the lightning bugs. This, in turn, benefits the children.

While I tried to illustrate this connection, it is difficult to convince kids that they are better off because it is raining a lot because there will be more lightning bugs to catch when the rain stops.

Last week marked the last two games for tee ball and both were rained out, along with the party that we had planned to have at the outdoor pool for the kids on Thursday evening.

With a two-month season and only about four rain-outs after playing two games a week, they pretty well got their bellies full of playing anyway.

I was feeling conflicting thoughts on the matter. On one hand, I would have liked to have seen the kids get to play their remaining games and go to the party. On the other, I was relieved to be free of the twice-aweek responsibility and the time it entailed. Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed the experience; but I still have lots to do and not being tied up two nights a week should help.

Besides, if there really is going to be one of the snowiest winters on record, then I probably need to get several truckloads of firewood in the works. I still have a little left over from last year, but it will likely only get me through December, and that's if things aren't unusually cold. I have yet to cut the first stick of wood this year and I haven't even bought kerosene for the back-up heat. I usually burn somewhere around 100 gallons a year, along with the six or more truckloads of firewood that I haul in.

Someone asked me the other day what I would do once my home renovations were completed. I told them I'd not considered that, but I was sure there would be plenty to do—at least until winter hibernation.
 

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