By Kim Baldwin, McPherson County farmer and rancher
Looking at my large paper calendar prominently on display in the mudroom, I know January has 31 days. However, after wickedly cold temperatures, a hefty dose of snow and an equally hefty dose of strong winds that drifted shut roads and kept our kids from going to school for many days this month, I’m convinced the January on my calendar is missing some days.
Don’t get me wrong, we have desperately needed moisture for a while, and I am grateful we received many inches of frozen precipitation in January.
However, I can’t remember the last time I saw the sun!
It seems as though as soon as the excessive cold left our area and the temperatures slowly started to rise, a cloud of cold mist and dark, heavy fog has remained.
Headlights during the day have been the norm around here lately as have slower speeds. I’ve caught myself multiple times commenting on the thick fog or it being another dark and dreary day.
While temperatures have remained mostly just above freezing since the mist and fog have rolled in, the sun has rarely come out. Thus, the piles of snow and ice have now mostly melted down to slush due to the just-above-freezing temps and the lingering mist. Overall, it’s become a very muddy mess.
My mudroom has quite literally become just that – a mud room. I’ve avoided taking my car to the carwash even though it’s well beyond the point of needing to be scrubbed and hosed down because wherever you go it’s mucky.
I keep thinking that if the sun would just push through, the mess that has been created following our recent snowstorms would begin to dry up.
After listening to a presentation about weather patterns and the long range forecast given by a trusted meteorologist, it sounds like the wet start to 2024 will continue into the coming months due to El Nino.
I’m preparing myself for more slush, more overcast days, and more mud.
While driving home from this weather presentation in the fog with my windshield wipers going and my headlights on, I caught myself humming a tune from a movie I first watched as a child in the early 1980s.
The humming transitioned to me talking out loud saying, “The sun’ll come out tomorrow.”
And soon I was belting out, “Tomorrow, tomorrow, I love you, tomorrow. You’re always a day away.”
While there are still a few cloudy days and chances of rain in the near future, there is also some sun in the forecast.
As we perhaps continue to experience cold and wet days this winter, and the mud seems to linger, remember the sun will eventually come out. Afterall, there’s always tomorrow. It’s only a day away.
“Insight” is a weekly column published by Kansas Farm Bureau, the state’s largest farm organization whose mission is to strengthen agriculture and the lives of Kansans through advocacy, education and service.
