By Charlie Warner
Argus Editor

I mowed my lawn twice during the past week. While that might not sound like a monumental accomplishment, Iíd venture to guess 90 percent of the people living in the "Land of 10,000 Lakes" would give their eye teeth, or maybe even sell their souls, if they even had a few wisps of green grass in the yards.

All but a handful of counties in Minnesota have been plagued by a very serious drought this summer. We lucky residents of southeast Minnesota, which I affectionately refer to as "Godís Country," have enjoyed another beautiful, green summer. Our yards are green, vegetable and flower gardens are beautiful, and according to Houston/Fillmore County Extension Educator Jerry Tesmer, area farmers are looking at another excellent harvest.

I knew things were not good in many parts of Minnesota, but I didnít know just how bad they were until I traveled to McLeod County (just west of the Twin Cities Metro Area) three weeks ago. My hometown (Brownton) was celebrating its sesquicentennial (150th birthday). The route from my home in eastern Fillmore County to Brownton takes me through the Rochester area along Highway 52 north to Cannon Falls and then 90 miles east along Highway 19.

Things looked pretty good until I got just north of Rochester. The road ditches, medians, corn and bean fields started to take on an entirely different (sickly that is) look. When I got to Cannon Falls, things looked very bleak. Yards were completely burned out, the corn fields were turning brown, with spiked leaves twisting skyward for moisture. And many of the soybean fields were less than a foot tall and turning yellow and brown.

My father has always taken great pride in having a beautifully manicured lawn. Browntonís celebration was the third weekend in July. He hadnít mowed his lawn since the beginning of June. In fact, part of south central Minnesota hadnít received more than two-tenths of an inch of rain in eight weeks. One didnít even want to walk on the brown, parched lawns. If you did, it felt and sounded like you were walking on chow mein noodles. And your sojourn across the burnt lawn left a permanent map of your footprints.

Although central Minnesota has received some welcomed rains during the past three weeks, the damage is done, as far as much of the corn and bean crops are concerned. Much of the land that routinely produces 225 bushels of corn per acres is predicted to yield 100 bushels or less. Many farmers have elected to chop their corn in an attempt to get something out of it. Some may even try cutting and baling up their soybeans, hoping to derive some nutritional value from it for their beef and dairy cows.

Two weeks ago Caledonia hosted several farm-related events, attracting hundreds of farmers from across the state. The comment I constantly heard was just how green and lush everything was in this corner of the state. People were so amazed that there could be such a difference in the color of the landscape in such a short distance. To say they were "green" with envy would be an understatement.

This past Sunday evening, as I was working up a good sweat cutting the long, thick, green cover of grass with my push mower, I felt lucky, and yes, blessed to be faced with the chore. Even though my mother and father had received nearly three inches of rain in the past two weeks, Dad reported the major portion of his yard was just now starting to green up. He figured it would be at least another week (which would put it at nearly three full months) before he would fire up the lawn mower.

Sometimes we just donít know how lucky we are!

*****

As most of you have probably heard, Jane Palen, who has worked for The Argus 22 of the past 25 years, has resigned. Her last day in the office was Friday, August 10. She has agreed to cover the Caledonia School Board for now.

Jane will certainly be missed. Having grown up in Caledonia, and being related to a good portion of the local populace, she was a wealth of information - especially for someone like me, who has only been working in Caledonia for the past five months.

We wish Jane all the luck with her new endeavors and hope to carry on the fine journalistic standards she has brought to the Caledonia area during the past 25 years.

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Caledonia Argus
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