It’s monsoon season here in Minnesota, or so it seems. I think we’ve averaged 2 inches of rain per week this month. Besides the rain gauge at home, I have another way of discerning how much rain we have received: my rain gear. I’m certain I have had to wear my rain jacket, and even rain pants, more this year than in the previous two years. Just walking through the tall grass between the road and the rail the other day was a soggy task.
Yesterday, we set up some track circuits under less than ideal conditions for doing so. Usually, we like to set up the circuits for shunting sensitivity on a hot, dry, day so that even in conditions that are the least favorable for conductivity, the circuit still detects the presence of a train. Obviously, when the rails are wet, and the ground is wet, the current flows more easily. And, on Thursday, it rained — I suppose poured is more appropriate — off and on all day; mostly on. Just standing beside a crossing gate, the left side of my left leg was drenched from the water draining off of the gate mechanism. This was when I decided it was time to put on rain gear, and in retrospect, I should have made that decision just five minutes prior.
So, at the end of what turned out to be a 12-hour day, due to complications in the process of final installation and testing, it was time for a hot supper. I was in the mood for chili; all the restaurant had was seafood chowder. It was pretty good, though, and it hit the spot. I had memories of Moby Dick in my mind, where Ishmael and Quequeg (sp?) ate corn chowder and clam chowder, and various other kinds of chowder in Nantucket before leaving on their journey.
But to the reason I titled the post the way I did. I made the comment to my neighbor about all of the rain, and whether the timing was good for him, or no. He told me that the crops (and I think he meant corn, especially) need at least an average of one inch per week in August to really mature. Hmm. I didn’t grow up as a farmer’s son, so I didn’t know that. I knew that corn and beans really like humidity, and I guess what he said would correspond to that.
Anyway, I’m glad for the rain, even when I have to work in it.
