I should be under water

…or treading it, at least. This picture was taken while I was standing in what used to be Lake Sakakawea. I actually walked over and touched those dry spillway gates…I remember water lapping over the top of them in the not-so-distant past. If memory serves me correctly, that’s over a forty foot difference.

Note the absence of Conrad, Dorgan, or Pomeroy. Note also the absence of any results of their hard fought battle (I mean, they ARE fighting for us…aren’t they?) for equity in Missouri River management between the northern states, who rely on its lakes for tourism, and the southern states, who rely on it for floating casinos and barges.

Yes, I know there’s a lot of talk about the barge industry…but that barge industry doesn’t account for a fraction of the combined financial interest of the northern states’ tourism and hospitality industries. But the riverboat casinos? They’ve got a little more dollars attached. I have a friend who, while he worked in the gaming industry, clued me in to that little tidbit when this debate first started raging a few years ago. I haven’t seen one mention of it in the newspapers.

The next time our congressional delegation start tooting their collective or individual horns about what they’ve done for the state, please invite them to come to Riverdale and play in the state’s largest sandbox.

Thank God it’s Raining (TGIR)

We caught this double rainbow tonight thanks to my friend Erica, whose pounding on the front door awoke me from a nap that had gotten out of hand. This rain has been GREAT – a few days of constant soaking would be such a blessing right now, but we’ll take what we can get. This may be too late for many small-grain crops, but we’ll see. Even those of us with lots of outdoor hobbies are willing to set them aside for a while if we could just get some extended rain!

Canadians responsible for global cooling. er, warming. er, Climate Changeā„¢

Al Gore would say it’s the percentage of gas-guzzling trucks and SUVs driven by North Dakotans, but it’s actually those darn Canadians. You see, this isn’t smog…it’s Metric smoke from the fires burning in northern Saskatchewan. The natural wind currents bring it down across the upper Midwest region of the United States, which means we’re now in the smoking section for a while. If you’ve had headaches the past couple of days like I have, this is likely the reason why. People with allergies and asthma are going to have a fun ride.

Apparently the Canadians have their own version of FEMA as they’re not seeing a whole lot of response in the area and are crying out for more help. It can’t be a lot of fun to fight a raging forest fire on the border of the Northern Territories, so I bet they’ve got their hands full.

In the meantime, it’s going to be a bit hazy as long as the wind brings the smoke in our direction. It makes for some neat sunsets but the haze brings more problems than anything else.

Friday snowfall

Those fluffy flakes Friday morning were sure welcome…unfortunately many of them didn’t stay! There were plenty of good photos to chase if one doesn’t have a day job; since I do, I had to find snow that hadn’t yet melted. But snow on the thresher is always easy on the eyes. Hopefully we’ll get a lot more where this came from, before it gets too cold to snow…