Editor’s Letter

Whirlwinds of Summer

By Bob Lusk

Heard an interesting comment from dear friend, Bucky Lainhart. He and bride, Mary, came to Texas late July from their home in upstate New York, to attend the groundbreaking for Heroes Ranch, in east Texas. (I’ll tell you about that amazing place later). We drove together and along the way, Buck was reflecting. For several years, they had a café in Clyde. In the midst of the Corona lockdown last summer, Buck sat outside the café, waiting for customers and observing his lockdown world. After several weeks, he came to a conclusion. On our trip, he said, “You know, last year after a few months, when there were no planes in the sky, I got to noticing the sky was bluer, weather was like it was decades ago, and we had normal rains.”

Buck is convinced fewer planes and vehicles moving about influenced the weather where he lives. It reminded him of local weather as a kid.

For obvious reasons, my first thoughts shifted to climate change and political debates over it. Is Bucky’s conclusion a fair one? Why did southern U.S. and part of the southwest go through that big “snowmageddon” back in February? Why is the west continuing to burst into flames during record dry and heat as we speak?

How does all this affect our ponds and lakes?

I’ve received an abnormal number of messages and calls about weird pond circumstances this year. A brand-new lake, filled with clean, healthy well water, freshly re-stocked with fish because cormorants ate most of the fall stocking, turned over because of a four-inch rain. That’s not supposed to happen. Or, a lake reclamation in Texas that cost way too much because it didn’t stop raining long enough for the muck to de-water…all summer.

As I thought about Buck’s comment, I also wondered if all that time sitting out front, with our world grounded, did he just have more porch time to absorb and sense his surroundings deeper?

Reflection is good, and it’s time to see this summer in the rearview mirror.