[Paul_Guraedy]

A year of rough weather and it’s only half over! I had heard that the Neosho River was flooding in NE Oklahoma. I called Debbe Edwards and sure enough the water reached her new home and flooded her carving studio. The good news is that she had not yet brought furniture into the new home and she got her livestock over to some neighbors. She is not sure of damages in the studio but knows that appliances and some of her saws were underwater. Debbe had a rough time with the ice storms last winter and now the summer is not much better.

We have been lucky here in this part of the Ozarks. One bad cold spell did not do immediate obvious damage; but, all will have to “pay the piper” a bit later. The temps dropped to 14°F in March. Most of the fruit and nut trees were either in bloom or had just set the fruit. According to the experts, the fall fruit and nut crop is gone. This is bad enough for humans; but, what about the animals? No acorn crop spells a rough winter for the deer, turkey and squirrels. Apparently, this is true over a good portion of the upper south.

This was brought to mind as I took these pictures, out my front window, just a little while ago.

[GeorgiaCarver]

Humm, perhaps I should have stayed in Missouri! Those are some good looking bucks.

I am sorry to hear the rain keeps comming. I would not wish a flood on anyone. Such a sad tragedy.

Greg

[Eddy Smiles]

Greg... I'm surprised that you didn't ask Paul to send you some of that rain! When we drove through Tifton two weeks ago it sure looked pretty dry. As a matter of fact, Paul... send us some. We're in a moderate drought condition here in Florida. Our summer monsoon is having a real hard time getting started. I'm afraid that it's going to take a tropical depression....or worse... to get us back to normal.

[Joy]

That if a fine herd of deer you have in your front yard. I hope you don't have any plants you want to keep.

We are about to wash away with rain. The garden is dying from too much rain. There is black mold on the ground. The pond is continously running over the dam and it just keeps on raining. This time last year we were have ing a serious two year drought.

[tnartist05]

A cold blast in spring killed most of our fruit this year here in East Tn Mtn areas,course then we havent had much rain{a drought} which has killed the summer crops & poor gardens around here. We water our flowers at nights. Might get some really cold weather this fall & winter?? The weather is something now days!! But its life and Im sure it all will work out~ When I lived in Memphis most of the weather there came in from the west,what ever was in Tx came through Memphis but up here in East Tn we get our weather from the west,south and a few fronts drop down on us from the north----strange!!

[Paul_Guraedy]

Gardening is just a fond memory and the roto-tiller sits as decoration. I finally gave up gardening a couple of years ago. Waaaaay too many animals in this isolated area and now the elk have moved onto the place in numbers.

I have been experimenting with some of the motion sensitive noise makers to try and salvage some fruit from my orchard. The raccoons, at least, have been staying clear of the bird feeders (peanut butter and sunflower seeds). I have not tried it in the orchard and will probably have to wait a year for a real test. The March freeze eliminated any hope of fruit this year.

Still…..for an old Park Ranger, things “ain’t bad”. Seeing a herd of bucks kinda off-sets “store bought” tomatoes.

[squbrigg]

Paul.... you have a nice crop of bucks there, great models for some carvings! Bad weather all over, too much rain, not enough rain, nothing makes sense any more. No snow this month, so far, so that's good.

Bob

[Lynn O. Doughty]

Sorry to disagree but out here in Oklahoma we can never get enough rain. We've gone for several years with the grass browning out at the end of May and not a decent thunderstorm until the fall. It's good to see the grass growing thick and lush for once.

While I feel real sympathy for those affected by the flooding streams you have to remember that flooding is a natural process, at least it was before we damed up all the major rivers and paved over half the landscape. Now, when the water backs up behind the concrete everyone starts screaming about the backup. I guess it's a real big secret that not too many are aware of but anyone can go down to the local Corps of Engineers office and check out the flood levels of any river or stream in the U.S.! Now if someone wants to go ahead and build their home or shopping center out on that floodplain thinking that it will never happen to them......well my sympathy starts to falter. Years ago, up the road from us in Miami, OK, part of the city flooded from the backup of water from Grand Lake. Even though their homes were in the designated floodplain of the lake they sued and won on the grounds that the Dam Authority didn't release the water fast enough. They didn't really care about those living below the dam. So, with their winnings they had the opportunity to move to higher ground. Did they? Nope! They're still there, now up to their waists again in water. Will they sue again? Count on it. Sure, there are those who have owned and lived on the land before it was declared a floodplain and they are the only ones who really deserve the full measure of our concerns.

Sorry to ramble on this but it's us up here on higher ground that will have to pay for all the suits filed by those now wading around in their hipboots.

Nice bucks Paul and I really like that fan in your house. Clever!

[Hi_Ho_Sliver]

"Weather in diverse places"! We are having a problem in Az as well, last rain (drizzle) they tell me was in Feb, I must have blinked, I missed it! Its so dry and no food, our yard is a haven for the animals around here, the deer have just about stripped our yard...every bush and plant that they deem edible has been topped..!

[Lynn O. Doughty]

Dave.....You've got it made!! No floods, no tornados, no hurricanes, no heavy snow, and now you tell us you have someone cutting your grass and trimming the shrubs for free!