It’s Been a Summer We’d Like to Forget

Camping season opens for me on May 1st. Usually, if that day has nice weather, it's gonna be a wet Summer. If we got soaked with rain, the Summer would be warm and have many sunny, dry days.

May 1st, 2018 was a dry one at the campground. I should have realized what kind of Summer it would be. After a wet May, I thought things would dry out for the rest of the season. Nope.

May, June, July and now August have given us more than our share of rain. Normally, I mow the lawn around my camper once every couple of weeks, unless we are lacking rainfall, then it could be at least three weeks before the lawn would need to be cut.

This year, the lawn has needed mowing every week, sometimes more than that. Unfortunately, I haven't been able to mow as often as I'd like. The problem to mow has been due to the constant rains. I have standing water all around my camper and the ground is so drenched, I'd end up leaving ruts in the lawn or get the riding mower stuck. There are pockets of standing water everywhere.

If that's my only issue with the endless rain, I consider myself very lucky. This week has been a disaster for many residents in the Southern Tier of New York and Northern Tier of Pennsylvania. Flooding has occured in many areas again, and it's obviously devastating to those affected. Especially since they've probably gone through this many times before, including the floods in 2006 and 2011.

The upside is, the many people lending a hand to those in need. That's where humans shine, and it's great to see we haven't lost that compassion. Let's hope the rest of the Summer and the upcoming Fall will be normal and quiet. Rain...stay away.