Yearn to Wander

Picturesque NW Wisconsin Farm

From Chicago to Edmonton and beyond in late May. From Northern Illinois through Wisconsin, Northern Minnesota, Southern Manitoba, and half way through Saskatchewan, water was everywhere.

The roads were dry, but the rivers were brimming and the fields were unplantable or flooded. As we approached Saskatoon, SK, due north of Cheyenne, WY, the fields became drier until they became too dry by Edmonton. Not only did the soil appear drier, but fewer and fewer wetlands and roadside gullies held water and fewer hosted ducks. Otherwise, Spring weather was turning green, which in this case has been inconsistent: mostly cool with intermittent spells of cold and unseasonable warmth. One story attributes this inconsistency to the sudden end of La Nina, a Pacific phenomenon, that with cycles of its "brother," El Nino. Another attributes the volcano eruption in Iceland. Both seem to affect weather around the world.