I've linked the latest 7-day QPF below. It looks horrible....well, unless you're still in drought, in which case maybe it does look good. We only have 2" in the rain gauge, and I say "only" because rain was much heavier in other parts of southern OK, so I feel lucky we didn't get more. I have no words to describe the mosquitoes here----there are just clouds of them in the air. They are waiting by the back door when I walk out in the mornings. I think Miracle May is going to give us ridiculous numbers of certain pests like mosquitoes. With ants, I've been using a Spinosad ant bait, but I am not sure how effective it is when rain is falling constantly. It always has worked well in the garden's raised beds, but they drain a lot better than the rest of the yard. I don't know how we're ever going to be able to mow again. I might try "mowing" tomorrow with the string trimmer---not 2 or 3 acres, but at least the parts of the yard nearest the house. Hmmm. I wonder how long the big lake-like puddles would have to sit in the yard in order for the bermuda grass to die. Is that even possible? If so, I hope the puddles persist that long. I noticed piles of sawdust alongside the wood boards that edge the asparagus bed and found carpenter ants there, so I ordered an ant bait containing abamectin to use there. It is organic and is effective but pricey. My normal routine of spraying Garrett Juice + Medina Orange Oil or liquid molasses to kill fire ants doesn't work when it is raining almost daily. I think the rain washes away the sprayed products before they can work. We have rain in our forecast every day for the next week, and that has been true most of the month. We don't necessarily get rain every day, but we get it on far too many days lately. The Red River now is expected to crest at a little over 35' on Thursday at the bridge between Thackerville, OK, and Gainesville, TX, and then begin falling, but if more rain keeps falling, then the river level may not fall as expected. Poor Lake Texoma. It is getting tons of runoff. They opened the floodgates a day or two ago and have been trying to release as much as possible but not so much that they are contributing to downstream flooding. A couple of days ago, Texoma had risen 19' in the last 30 days, and I expect that number is rolling over to 20' today. If any of you have plans for Lake Texoma for Memorial Day weekend, I'd call ahead and confirm that the campground or marina facility you're using is still fully open for business. Some businesses have been shutting down as rising water begins to interfere with access to their facility or the safe operation of their facilities. Robert, Our driveway has ravines like yours, and this morning little streams of water are cascading down those ravines. It is hard to figure out when to fix it, but I think it is still too early here. I doubt we'll do much before July because normally in a rainy year like this, we stay really rainy well into June. Scott, It is so good to see lake and river levels recovering in the western half of the state, but the ones in the eastern half are too full now and the number of flood warnings and flash flood warnings seems to be escalating. To our south in Texas, there's a lot more flooding than we are seeing here. I do hope that the rain is falling slowly enough that a lot of it can absorb and recharge the aquifers instead of just all running off and causing flooding. I feel fortunate that those of us north of the Red River have it there to catch all the runoff. A lot of the problem areas in North Texas aren't even from flooded rivers, but rather from flooded creeks that cannot channel the runoff into larger bodies of water fast enough because creeks are just so much smaller than rivers. I feel sorry for everyone in the Norman area that is being flooded. It just seems like flooding is the new normal for Norman, at least this year. Oh wow, a bright yellowish-white light suddenly is shining through my living room windows. Either the Mother Ship from another universe has come to beam me up, or the sun is shining. I'm hoping it is sunshine. I don't intend to step foot in my waterlogged garden today. I harvested everything I could yesterday, so there shouldn't be anything out there that needs to be harvested today. The pathways are like little canals and have been testing the limits of my waterproof boots. I might start some icebox watermelon and muskmelon seeds in paper cups inside today. The snap peas have powdery mildew, so far only on the lower leaves and not on the peas themselves. Once the PM starts in weather like this, it doesn't go away and once it starts affecting the peas, I yank out the plants. I need to have replacement plants ready to go into that bed and climb that trellis. If I get too bored indoors, I might change my mind and go out later today and make a list of which tomato varieties have set fruit versus which ones have not. I think there's more green tomatoes on the plants than I had thought, so we still might have a good tomato year if the raised beds can drain well enough to keep the plants happy and productive. 7-Day QPF

Bruce, Thanks for letting us know how you and Janet are doing. We missed y'all at the Spring Fling, but we knew you were busy dealing with the aftermath of Mother Nature's weather temper tantrum. I am so pleased to hear how much recovery progress you've already made, and doubly pleased you have reclamation crews coming in so quickly. I believe your hard work and quick action will save some items you otherwise might have lost. It is impressive what y'all have managed to do so quickly, and it is inspiring for the rest of us who someday might face similar issues---y'all will be the shining example of what we need to do if we're ever hit by the same type of weather destruction. You know, here in OK in the springtime, anything can happen and it usually does happen to someone. I still cannot believe it happened to y'all. Hang in there and keep smiling and keep growing. I know you need your garden more than ever this year because it is such a great stress reliever and y'all certainly have had a lot of stress these last few days. Dawn

North of Chicago along Lake Michigan. We may have already *had* our winter -- lots of snow. (Kidding.) Today's high may break a record of 55F, but then we go back to the twenties tonight. Happy to see our driveway again (dark gravel, but north-facing). Blue skies here, decorated with FAST-moving clouds out of the west. DIL's sister and family were delayed coming in from SLC yesterday. Hard to get TO the airport in a storm, then two hours on a plane that cancelled, then more time waiting in the airport for an eventual flight to ORD. (Well, I *think* they got here; saw flights moving later in the day. To those living in the Dakotas: Didn't the native Americans *go south* in winter? Something to think about? LOL

When it rains it pours....Yesterday a utility plant in Armada Michigan experienced a fire. It is a major supplier to the state so in an attempt to avoid a complete shut down of supply, Consumer’s Energy is now asking business and residents a like to keep their heat down to 65 or lower. Not a problem for us, that’s our norm, but literally every office I was in today felt like they had their heat turned up much higher than that.