I am not sure what part of the country you are reading this column from but, here in Central Texas, we have gotten a tremendous amount of rain. The evidence was clear during a drive I made to Waco last week. I passed miles of dark green stalks of corn standing over six feet tall. It reminded me of a shag carpet, thick and deep.
There was no daylight in between the rows of maze, and to say it was hearty would be an understatement. A little further down the road I passed golden-brown hayfields that were equally impressive as the corn in height and thickness. All of the stock tanks were at capacity, and every bridge I crossed over had water flowing beneath it.
Cattle looked fat and happy. They buried their heads into pasture grass up to their bellies, enjoying an all you can eat buffet. It appeared to me it was a good day to be a cow.
If one really thinks about it, that is probably the only focus a cow has, to be fat and happy. They all seemed pretty content to me and didn’t appear to be worrying about life a whole lot. They have plenty of food and water and a shed to get under if needed, but outside of that, they don’t need much else.
I don’t believe in reincarnation, but if I did, I want to try being a cow for at least one day. The idea of not worrying or thinking about anything for an entire day other than chewing a cud does not sound so bad.
It is amazing what a little rain can do. For this part of Texas, it transformed an entire landscape. Everything has come to life as a result of a little nourishment from the rainmaker.
Central Texas had a powerful thirst, and God quenched it.
It is hard to imagine that only a few months ago those robust corn fields were nothing but plowed up dirt with just a seed dropped into the ground. There was nothing, and now there is something.
I find that amazing.
Food has shot out of the ground, and it started with a person dropping a seed into the soil. I know many farmers, especially where water is scarce, will pump water out of the ground to help their crops grow.
But even that type of irrigation has its limitations. There is nothing like good rain to knock down the dust, clear out the drains, flush away the pollen, and nourish the ground.
“Pray for Rain” signs have dotted this area before, we need not forget that.
I killed my front yard about two months ago. I was trying to get a jump on the weeds, so I applied some weed killer. It worked, but I also killed every blade of grass I had. My front yard looked like Frito chips. It’s beginning to bounce back now, not because I got it to grow again, but because the rainmaker showed up.
Even with all of the fertilizers, chemicals, pre-emergent etc., there are still some things only God can do.
I’m not a farmer, but I do know things need to dry out before they can get their equipment in the fields to harvest a crop. So, I guess, there is a chance we could get too much rain.
But until then, let it rain. The rainmaker knows what He’s doing.
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Todd Howey is a columnist for BrownwoodNews.com whose articles appear on Fridays. Email comments to [email protected].