June 4, 2013

Dear Diary,  What a week so far--and it's only Tuesday.  It won't stop raining.  I've been vacuuming water that's seeping through the floor in our basement and our garden is mush. All winter I look forward to growing vegetables and flowers in the summer.  I'm so disappointed! Maybe we will be able to replant some of it.  However, the frost comes early in North Dakota, making the growing season a mini-season this far north. It's a good thing we can get fresh fruits and veggies trucked in throughout the year.  But they're  anemic in looks and taste compared to what we can grow in our garden! ( I'm sure they lack in nutrition as well.)

This bleak situation got me thinking about my parents. They were farmers for close to fifty seasons. My dad seeded many acres of wheat, corn, oats, sunflowers, and barley every year. The harvest was our families' livelihood for the coming year. His crop was at the mercy of the weather every one of those years. How many people could survive the uncertainty? Drought, hail, insects, disease, or equipment breakdowns could happen at any time. Some years bumper crops were turned to shreds in minutes by a hail storm. Yet, each spring, he planted another crop.  That's hope and faith! If I inherited even a sprinkle of his tenacity and optimism, I can most likely survive a small flooded garden!