What About This? By Wayne William Cipriano

Y’all get any rain?

Man, we sure did, and if you didn’t, you must be reading this in Arizona somewhere. 

Last time I checked, one of the local television channels was reporting that we were more than eleven inches over the average for this time of the year. And, knowing what happens whenever anyone complains about too much rain, I ain’t saying nothing – and neither should you!

Some optimists are calling for a THIRD cutting of hay (I’m sure they will not be complaining about the rain) and I sort of doubt that as I’ve seen a lot of rain before suddenly cease, but you have to agree the grass is fine for the end of June.

I’m not given to long stretches of Pollyanna, so I’ll mention the proliferation of both weeds and vermin that follow naturally such a plethora of moisture, and, as I think about it, I envision a balance point being surpassed even by those like me who superstitiously avoid rain comments.

Our ponds are full to overflowing, and I’m sure our well, like yours, is topped off and ready for whatever the summer and autumn plan to bring us.

Our road took several beatings because we have never bladed it off as we should, being frightened as to what a really hard rain will do to a road that has been shaped with our convenience and not the general paths of water in mind. The rest of the ranch stood up very well to the weather – not just to water, but to the winds that cooked right along just about every time it rained. We didn’t get many of those soft, gentle showers so dear to the hearts of poets, but rather seemed to collect all our rain during stout storms. The clay of our roads, vacillating between concrete and grease depending on the rain, made driving an interesting experience.

As the storms backed off and the sun and its very warm days appeared, the sauna that is Southern Missouri at these times “fires” up (we won’t have to worry about out-of-control fires for a while, will we?). I’m sure we are all happy that we pay so little for electricity – as shown by that map in the Herald recently – because the air conditioners and dehumidifieres are cranking up all over. We, being White River Valley Electrical Cooperative members, pay a lot more for a kilowatt hour of electricity (17¢ or 18¢, not the 9¢ or so “average” claimed by that map) than the City of Ava residents. We are not complaining that much since where we live is pretty far off the county road and we are grateful the wires come out this far. And when we divide our total bill for electricity each month by the number of kilowatts we consumed during that month for a “true” cost of each kilowatt, it doesn’t even come close to the 28¢ that Renee`and Ryan pay in Massachusetts for each of theirs.

Of course, if you live in Massachusetts, you make a lot more compensation for your work than we make here in Douglas County, and you pay a boatload more taxes. So, all that “extra” compensation disappears just as quickly as does ours. 

And, all in all, being here is better, regardless of the rain, right?