And while the drought recovery aspect is nice, there are negative environmental consequences to all this rain too. The rain came before all the snow was gone, so the streets department hadn't yet gone out with the street sweepers to clean up the detritus that had accumulated in the gutters. The rain sent a lot of sand and sediment straight into the lakes. And with the farmers' fields clear of snow but also of crops, there's a lot of agricultural runoff too, the phosphorus in which will likely result in larger algae blooms this summer, which diminishes (if not destroys) the recreational value of the lakes.
The rain would be easier to deal with if it weren't also so cold. Right now it's 39° F; the warmest it's been since the rain started on Tuesday is 39°. I remember from my many summers at Camp Freeland Leslie that it's really quite nice being in a dry tent or under a tarp during a light to moderate rainfall on a warm day. On the other hand, I also remember the summer at archaeology camp in Kampsville, Illinois, when it rained four days out of five, making it impossible to work the dig. Even on the day it didn't rain, the ground was too wet to go to the site. At least the town didn't flood. (A real possibility, given the town's location on the Illinois River flood plain.)
Still, it's April, and that's sort of the deal, right? May flowers right around the corner, I hope.
