The Eagle’s story earlier this week about the bountiful local apple harvest inspired reflection about how the weather impacts our lives in ways so many of us never realize.
The story talked about how the freeze that killed the blossoms last year – and thus the harvest – set the stage for this season’s abundance. Not growing apples last year gave trees the strength to produce an extra large crop this season.
Remember the massive blizzard that paralyzed huge portions of western Kansas late in 2006 and early in 2007? Some residents of rural areas went several weeks without electricity and livestock suffered terribly. But that same storm brought desperately needed moisture to the region, as the snow and ice slowly melted, and crops flourished in the growing seasons that followed.
I find myself wondering how this incredibly wet spring and summer will impact the region not just the rest of this year, but next growing season as well.