Drought

The Gazette just has to do us a favor and <a href="http://www.billingsgazette.com//index.php?id=1&display=rednews/2005/01/17/build/local/30-drought-hangs-on.inc" target="_new">remind</a> us of the <a href="http://www.billingsgazette.com//index.php?id=1&display=rednews/2005/01/17/build/local/32-area-wells.inc" target="_new">drought</a>. It's never far from my mind but I can bury it in the day to day worries of getting everything done, until somebody comes along and rubs my nose in it. <br />n<br />nThe one guy talks about putting up no hay and having to buy some all ready this winter. It's the same here but I bought my hay early knowing I would need it. In a way I wish I could make this kind of deal every year. With the payout from my insurance for putting up no hay, the hay I bought was cheaper than I could put it up for if i would have had hay. I paid just over $80/ton for hay but once the insurance check came in my out of pocket expense for it was $20/ton. I can't put up hay that cheap so it worked out good, except for the fact the hay quality is less than I put up, but it's all a trade-off.<br />n<br />nThere is not really much to say about the drought. I'm hoping for a better year, it wouldn't take much, but planning for the worst. I will at least have a better start to grass this year with the moisture that fell last fall. It's still in the ground and will help bring the green grass on. Whether we get enough moisture after that is the question. It's kind of like the one article says, all that remains is hope.<br />n<br />n<b>Hope is itself a species of happiness, and, perhaps, the chief happiness which this world affords: but, like all other pleasures immoderately enjoyed, the excesses of hope must be expiated by pain; and expectations improperly indulged must end in disappointment. Samuel Johnson</b>