To say that it’s been dry here is an understatement. I haven’t been on the John Deere in weeks because the grass looks like this.
That’s the south-facing front yard. The backyard is faring a little better, and could probably stand mowing in a few areas, but I’ll give it another week. It’s been bone dry ’round these parts since April, leaving everyone wondering where the rain is. Our YTD deficit is approaching 7″ now.
So, when lightning began flashing in the sky to the west last night accompanied by rumbles of echoing thunder, we were thrilled. Ended up with .50″ of rain overnight, which is hardly a drought-buster, but we’ll take every drop we can get these days.
My poor parched mitten state! There’s a chance for a few more showers and thunderstorms later today into Monday, and it might turn unsettled later in the week. Fingers crossed, because dormant grass aside, our farmers could really use the moisture. Corn’s gotta grow, yo.
If there’s one silver lining to the drought, at least we’ve been able to get outside and do things without worrying about getting rained out. Like Friday, when Tara and I left the house at noon and drove to Lower Springs Lake in Palmyra for a couple hours’ of kayaking. Lots of fun, of course, and I was able to paddle pretty close to a pair of sandhill cranes.
Afterward we drove back to Fort Atkinson and stopped for a couple of cocktails, one at the American Legion and another at Paddy Coughlin’s. It wasn’t a raucous night out, but a great way to end a hot summer day.
A couple of days earlier, we headed into Madison to support Justin the Realtor, who was sponsoring one of the Make Music Madison events in Warner Park. There were 680 concerts in various venues around Madison that day, part of the global Make Music Day held every year on the summer solstice. JTR is big on community events and we hadn’t seen him since the day we closed on our house, so we were happy to get out there. Especially since his brother-in-law and our friend Joe’s band, TUGG, were one of the featured performers.
The Rainbow Pavilion is a really cool spot right next to a lake. We were shaded from the sun and had a front-row spot for TUGG. We enjoyed the show (as well as the free beer and Cuban-inspired food) and got to meet a few more of Justin’s family members, including his dad, who is a real hoot. He lives in Fort Atkinson too, and when Justin told him the couple who bought Dick’s house were stopping by, he couldn’t wait to meet us.
I’m telling you, ol’ Dick is a real celebrity around these parts. Maybe we should open our house and yard to tours? Seems like there’d be at least a few folks interested in checking out the property.
I’d assumed Justin was exaggerating, but Papa J. let out a literal squeal of delight when he introduced us and moved right in for a bear hug. He and Tara spent the next 15 minutes talking about gardening, while Justin and I spent the next 15 minutes talking about the fact that they were spending 15 minutes talking about gardening. Papa J. promised to drop off zucchini and offered to help us pull a few weeds around the ponds.
I was joking that Justin’s family is going to end up adopting us. Here’s the abridged version of this unusual relationship: I met Jess, a blogger from La Crosse, about 10 years ago. Jess married Joe and they visited us in Rapid City a couple of times, most recently last August–the day I landed a job with TobacCo and our move to Wisconsin became official. Jess told us to look up her brother Justin when we were ready to buy a house. Fast-forward 10 months and we’re all practically family now.
Never underestimate the power of blogging, guys.
I’d like to give a big shout-out to TobacCo, by the way, for making these adventures possible. That flexible schedule is a godsend. I worked a 10-hour day from home on Tuesday so we’d be able to take off for Madison at 3:30 on Wednesday, and I always accrue enough hours to clock out at noon on Friday, giving myself what is essentially a 2.5-day weekend every week. On top of that, they sent out a company-wide email last week letting us know that, in appreciation of our hard work, they were making next Monday, July 3, a paid holiday, so we all have an extra-long holiday weekend.
Work-life balance is everything. Even more important than money in my opinion. A lot of companies talk about adopting that as part of their ethos, but how many actually have it ingrained into their culture? In my career experience, very few live up to those promises. TobacCo is a rare exception, and I am thankful again to have landed there.
Tara and I plan to spend the long 4.5-day weekend exploring some areas of Wisconsin we haven’t visited yet. Namely the Driftless Area and Green Bay, a/k/a Titletown U.S.A.
Still not becoming a Packers fan though.
Mark My Words 
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