Dust Bowl

Start the day with some yard work.  I realized that without any rain, my grass is still looking like winter dead.  I turn on the hose and sprinkler system for the first time and of course have a bunch of sprinkler heads that are either not popping up or they are leaking.

Kyle has a soccer game against Mattituck, a team that has beat them two time already this season, once in a tournament, and once in a cup game.  Today is different, as United comes away with a 3-2 win.  Kyle has a very good game, and makes a couple of saves on the goal line which may have made the difference in keeping the lead.

This day in history “In what came to be known as "Black Sunday," one of the most devastating storms of the 1930s Dust Bowl era swept across the region on this day. High winds kicked up clouds of millions of tons of dirt and dust so dense and dark that some eyewitnesses believed the world was coming to an end.

The term "dust bowl" was reportedly coined by a reporter in the mid-1930s and referred to the plains of western Kansas, southeastern Colorado, the panhandles of Texas and Oklahoma, and northeastern New Mexico. By the early 1930s, the grassy plains of this region had been over-plowed by farmers and overgrazed by cattle and sheep. The resulting soil erosion, combined with an eight-year drought which began in 1931, created a dire situation for farmers and ranchers. Crops and businesses failed and an increasing number of dust storms made people and animals sick. Many residents fled the region in search of work in other states such as California (as chronicled in books including John Steinbeck s The Grapes of Wrath), and those who remained behind struggled to support themselves. ”

Long Island is in a drought.  We have not had any appreciable precipitation this year.  There have been brush fires and warnings of more unless we get a good soaking rain.  I can tell you that the garden beds and lawn are bone dry.  The leaf pile on top of the hill is equally dry and when I turned it over, there are no worms.

If it is going to rain, I hope it is at night or when I am at work.  I am tempted to plant some herbs and veggies in the garden.  There are strawberry plants which are trying to grow…I better water them.

While we are in drought, and other areas get flooded, there are warnings in other areas of severe weather.  OMAHA, Neb. -- Baseball-sized hail was breaking windows and tearing siding off homes in northeast Nebraska, while tornadoes were spotted in Kansas and Oklahoma on Saturday as forecasters warned residents across the nation's midsection to brace for "life threatening" weather.

Kyle is at a sweet sixteen party, and I am tired already and its only 830pm.  Not sure if Sue or I will be picking him up later.

Photo of the day “Dust Bowl”