Welcome Rain

It's been a dry year in Wisconsin.  The lack of precipitation was noticeable in the early months of 2012 when we received very little snow.  I only had the blower out about three times during the winter of 2011-12.  Highly unusual. 

We also had an early spring with warm temperatures in April and hot, 90-degree F days in May.  Also, highly unusual.

Now as we approach the end of July, it's been about a month since I mowed the lawn.

The last time we had drought-like conditions similar to this was in 1988.  We were living in a different suburb (Wauwatosa) at the time, and it was so dry the city restricted outdoor flames of any kind, including charcoal grill fires. We lived directly across the street from a golf course and the fairways were straw-yellow.  Only the greens and tees were watered and green.

Over the past two weeks, however, things have begun to improve.  We've had some light showers, and I awoke last night to rumbles in the distance that led to a nice rain.  So far this morning we've gotten about a quarter inch.

Hope we get a lot more.