I usually shy away from using this space to write about the weather, but dang, it has sure rained and stormed a lot in the past couple of months. In fact, as I write this Friday morning, it is once again thundering, lightening and raining hard.

It is hard not to notice the weather if you live in Minnesota.

For instance, last weekend I went to Kiester on Saturday to cover the Horse and Mule Show at Farming of Yesteryear. It rained on my way there Saturday afternoon, and after I was there a while it rained at the show. Saturday night I went to cover and work at the Kiwanis concert and it thundered and lighteninged and poured during the concert. Reporter Kevin Mertens had a similar experience at Winnebago’s Bago Fun Fest. It was a miracle all these things carried on as much as they did.

Farmers are getting washed out, ball games are rained out, and people are starting to complain about all the rain.

And then there is the threat of flooding. Rivers are on the rise, of course, and that is no big surprise with all of this rain. Flash flood warnings are out all across Minnesota, from Duluth and the city of Cook to the north, to towns along the Minnesota River and its tributaries to the south.

The town of Waterville, where once upon a time I lived, is getting flooded a lot. It did one year when I lived there, too.

But here in Blue Earth, where there is a branch of the Blue Earth River on each side of town, the flooding is usually contained to areas where it can flood without doing much damage. Once again it is easy to see that the town’s founders were thinking ahead and built the town on higher ground, and left plenty of places for the river to flood. I am not sure they left enough room for this much rain, however, and the river is getting pretty high.

Once upon a time I also lived in a town called Enderlin in North Dakota. It, too, had a river running through it, the Maple River. And there was an area for it to flood, as well.

But one year in the mid-1970s, the Enderlin area got 18 inches of rain in just over one day, and the river could not handle it and the water backed up, over the banks.

I was a volunteer fireman and we went around in a boat, rescuing folks from their homes, and helping them move their furniture and other items from the main floor to the upstairs.

I felt pretty lucky that I lived blocks away from the river and on higher ground, and would not get flooded. But I did. The ground was so saturated that water seeped into my basement. Eventually, the whole basement flooded, all the way to the top. And, we were told not to pump it out or our basement walls could implode.

Eventually we did pump it out and it is hard to describe the mess that had to be cleaned up. Let me just say that it included a freezer full of meat that had to be thrown out, freezer and all.

It was one of the worst jobs I have ever had to do.

I also remember in 1969 being a college student in Mankato and spending time in North Mankato that spring hauling sand bags because the Minnesota River was flooding into the city of North Mankato. That was the year that the Minnesota River reached record heights up near Shakopee. Millions of dollars have been spent since then to try and keep the Minnesota River from flooding.

Then there was 2007. We had a permanent camp along the Whitewater River near St. Charles. That area also got 18 inches of rain in 24 hours and the camp was flooded out. Out of 28 campers along our stretch of river, only three were not washed away. One of those was ours. But it was wrecked from having water in it, anyway.

That camp area has been rebuilt, but we moved out.

Of course, there are also plenty of other flood stories in an around Minnesota.

At the time this issue of the Register is being sent off to press, it is raining. And more is predicted, several inches more of rain.

This week, starting on Sunday, it is predicted to be sunny and maybe only just a little rain, on Thursday.

I hope so. We need a break. Save some of this rain for later in the summer, when we might actually need it.

Farmers want their crops to grow, not drown out. Townsfolk want their events to not be washed out. Some of us want a chance to mow our lawns. Baseball players and golfers want a chance to play their sports.

And all of us want a chance to keep our basements dry.

So here is hoping we can all enjoy a little bit of summer, which, by the way, started on Friday.

Stay dry, if you can.

Now, about those darn mosquitoes …