Great to hear about the rain! Hope you get a bunch more. My dad was out there this summer working the fires. You've had a rough year of it with number of fires and acreage burned. Hopefully, the seasonal shift puts an end to it quickly.

I live in Texas, where in 2011 we had 3 straight months of 105 degrees with no rain. I put soaker hoses on my big oaks and thankfully saved the ones I could reach with a hose. Lost a bunch of roses - daylilies however survived, but it was just miserable. There were some fires, but only one close to us but we didnt have the smoke and haze like you did. It was the worst summer I can remember. This year, we were blessed with rain and only got a few days of 100 degrees, nothing like last year so maybe next summer for you will be better. At least its over and thankfully you got rain! I used to complain about too much rain - now, I am glad for every drop, no matter how flooded it gets.

Amen to the rain, Diane. I, too, just hung out outside enjoying the fresh smell - quite a change from the relentless smoke for months on end. And this morning - what a joy to have clear, non-smokey skies!

Congratulations on the rain! How wonderful--finally! Here in Kansas we had all-summer heat over 100 degrees, but nothing like the fire problem and unearthly type atmosphere (thank goodness)--though I imagine the Kansas farmers have some hard things to say about mother nature this year!

Don't know if we are really experiencing increasingly freaky weather patterns or not--but it sure does seem like it at times, doesn't it. The variability is what gets me--one extreeme or another, but different the next time around.

Well, we've had several mild rains in the past few weeks, and milder temps, so autumn is at least enjoyable. Summer certainly was not!

kate

Oklahoma always has it all -heat, drought, fires you name it. But for the last few years this drought has had a major impact on so many states. A friend of mine is a commerical nurseryman in Southwestern Kansas and she may actually have to close up her business if this drought cycle doesn't break next year. They say hog farmers are having to sell their livestock early because there just hasn't been enough rain (get your cheap bacon while you can). And everyone knows about the cattle ranchers and farmers. I'm so happy someone is getting rain. We got an inch after months of nothing last week, but nothing since and that inch is long gone. Mother nature needs to give us all a break out this way....Maryl