Farmers Don't Like Mud, et. al.

North Idaho's Mother Nature (Iz her name really 'Wicked'?) has won out again. I just received word that the weather forecast, which can be believed when it includes rain, calls for rain every day through Saturday.  

With that in mind, the Panhandle Antique Tractor Club and the Bonner County Historical Society have decided to postpone "Plow Day" indefinitely.  

If that oozing mud which I ran into the other night with my new lawnmower is any indication of what the tractor drivers would incur Saturday, they could end up with a field of mud soup, dotted with colorful but dirty-and-stuck antiques. 

And, it could get even dirtier, trying to pull those machines and their plows out of the mud.  

I speak with authority, based on the time I thought I saw a wolf and drove my van into a hub deep mudhole to make sure it was a wolf and not just some mean-looking neighbor dog.

The Larry Book family, who brought every motorized vehicle they owned to pull me out, can tell you how much fun it is take the rigs home in mud splattered clothes after finally urging Marianne's van onto dry ground. 

So, it's probably a good decision for the tractor owners to put off plowing for a while----maybe next fall. 

Speaking of fields, my sisters are pretty mad cuz last week some idiot (like Marianne) drove a rig through their north hay field----all the way across their hay field----obviously having to slow down at the south end when the rig sank hub deep into the mud. 

It would have been interesting watching them escape----better yet, catching them, muddy-handed. 

Anyway, it's that time of year when planning anything outside around our area requires at least a dozen contingency plans.  

Bill and I have decided NOT to cancel our plans for the next two days.  My cousin and her husband are coming up from the Tri-Cities to learn and practice geocaching. 

She called me last week concerned about the weather forecast for this week and wondering if we ought to postpone our geocaching adventures until June.  

Knowing June in North Idaho the way I do, I balked, thinking it doesn't matter if it's April, May, June or half of July, if you plan to do something outside in advance, you can severely influence the weather.  

It WILL rain OR snow.  

And, with geocaching, one usually doesn't have to pull out a stuck rig.  Usually. 

We have to be downright sneaky around here and plan our outdoor events on the spot before Mother Nature (aka Wicked) has time to round up some dark, black clouds filled with rain and run them over our heads.  After all, Seattle needs its rain too!

So, I told my cousin to bring her rain gear.  Bill and I will take them places that don't involve long walks in the rain.  If we have rain breaks, we'll take long walks to some of the geocaches. 

When it's all over, Rita and Jerry will either love geocaching or they won't.  And, they'll either come back to visit us in Sandpoint or they won't.  We'll do our best to influence the "will's" rather than the "won't's." 

This morning Bill, Debbie and I are invited to an indoor event so it can rain from 11-12 while we're enjoying a volunteer appreciation luncheon at Farmin-Stidwell Elementary School.  

Should be fun and dry.  Our luck it will be dry while we eat,  and raindrops will commence falling on our heads the minute we leave the school and set off on the geocaching adventure. 

If you're reading this, please don't share my thoughts with Mother Nature aka Wicked.  She might get really mad and send us some extra penance. 

Happy Wednesday.