“Mississippi rain, you keep falling down. And the river gets wider each day. I’ll be moving on; I can’t stay around. And I can’t go back to yesterday.”
Nitty Gritty Dirt Band (1970)
A couple of years back Sam signed up to cut the grass at the church. He actually signed us both up, with the intentions of teaching me to drive the 1994 zero-turn Dixon, and he’d do the weed eating. I never quite got the hang of the Dixon and repeatedly ran into the “Senior Saints” parking signs. And since I couldn’t handle the gasoline-powered weed eater, I was relegated to pulling weeds and the occasional watering. Eventually I gave up my duties for more interior opportunities.
Sam picked the month of August since he figured August would be the driest month and the grass wouldn’t grow, and there’d be the least amount of grass cutting to do. However, ever since he signed on we’ve had more rainy Augusts than you can imagine, where the grass pops up like hornworms on a tomato plant.
Something I’ve noticed about this cooperative grass cutting is how it becomes competitive among the menfolks. Mostly it’s men that cut the grass, with an occasional family or single lady hiring the job out.
The best grass cutters cut the grass on Fridays but certainly no later than Saturday, so that when everyone arrives on Sunday the church yard is looking its Sunday best. Most of the men comment on how short or long the grass is cut, according to their preferences. Most of the ladies comment on the shrubs and flowers, which always look mighty fine.
Lately we’ve been having those spotty rains that always seem to spot over the church yard, and Sam’s been taking to cutting the grass twice a week. He cut it before the Wednesday night service and somebody hollered out, “It’s going to be high again by Sunday.”
Sam replied, “I know. I’m going to cut it again before Sunday.”
You can bet Sam’s not going to be caught with high grass on a Sunday.
Because I like statistics I thought I’d play weather girl and check out a few precipitation reports.
Seems the Columbus area average rainfall is 55.21 inches per year. Spring rains and summer rains run neck-and-neck around 13-plus inches. The highest rainfall is in the winter at 16.06 inches. and the lowest is in the fall at 12.54 inches.
In August we average 3.5 inches of rain over an eight-day period while we have an average of 24 sunny days. Our average high temperature is 92, and the low is 70. In 1989 we had a low temperature of 58, and in 2000 we reached a high of 102.
Venturing over into lightning strikes, the five most lightning-prone states are in the Southeast. Oddly enough — according to intellicast.com, advertised as “The authority in expert weather” — scientists still debate as to how lightning actually forms, but we all know it’s dangerous.
So, during August thundershowers remember: “When thunder roars go indoors,” no matter how badly the grass needs cutting.
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