Rain, Rain, Go Away!

We've had rain on and off since last night. Thunderstorms moved into the area last night from Nebraska and Kansas, but thankfully we didn't have any damage--just more rain that we didn't need. We only got about 80 hundreths of rain here--but that was more than enough! Charles Mix County--the county just west of us, had areas that had over 7 inches of rain--more water to add to the flooding on the Missouri River. The Corps of Engineers announced tonight that they're going to back off slightly on the releases from Ft. Randall dam at Pickstown for a couple of days, but then they're going to go up to 157,000 cfs--the flooding is just unbelievable. 
I was in Springfield today at my friend Carol's house and watched the river from her patio--the current running past her house is just unreal! Normally there isn't any current at all. What used to look like a marsh with all the sandbars and cattails is now just water as far as you can see. We saw chunks of reeds that eroded off the sandbars go whizzing past! I've never seen anything like what we're seeing now--really makes me wonder what Dad would say if he was still here! I'm sure he'd have a few choice words!!
Hopefully we're done with the rain for awhile!

Summer Fun

It's been a busy couple of weeks! Zane has been busy with baseball, I've been busy with work, and we just celebrated Czech Days! It's the annual celebration of our Czech heritage, held in Tabor, SD every year.
Here are some of the photos from this weekend.

Gibby's Corner Bar Float "In Heaven There Is No Beer"

Zane marching in the Bon Homme Middle School Band

Becky, on the right, in the Czech outfit (kroj) she and I sewed. All the costumes are handmade!

My guys, Larry and Zane, before Zane had to Beseda Dance Saturday night.

Mildred Cimpl, one of the Beseda dance instructors, leads the 200 dancers in to Sokol Park. Mildred's mother was the original instructor of the dancers--they've had the Beseda dance performance for 63 years!

Zane's circle

Flooding and Baseball

I've been busy the last week or so due to the flooding on the Missouri River. I've been documenting the rise of the river and flood preparations in our area through photographs for work. Spent Wednesday night this week helping fill sandbags--some of which were used to build a berm around a farm house on the river bottom near Running Water. Below is a photo of what is known as "The Bottom Road" east of Running Water, South Dakota.

The Corps of Engineers is increasing the flows through the dams on the Missouri River daily and the news here is filled with the efforts of citizens and the National Guard to protect property affected by the flooding caused by the increased releases from the dams. The flooding is having an effect on the local economy, as all of the boat ramps and campgrounds in our area are closed because of the flooding.

On a lighter note, Zane had his first Teener baseball of the year yesterday and they won 18-8 over Colome! He pitched one inning and didn't do too bad! He's hoping his cousin Chris who pitches for the local amateur baseball team can work with him today on his pitching. He's playing first base this year and loves it--so it's back to "living at the ball park" for the next couple of months!

It's supposed to be hot and humid the next few days--hopefully the rain will hold off until the farmers can get the soybeans in the ground. We had over 2 inches of rain last weekend--it's dried out over the top of the fields, but it's a sloppy mess underneath. Larry nearly got stuck twice yesterday trying to work up a field for planting. The corn is starting to really grow and some of the area farmers are starting to cut alfalfa--besides trying to get their crops in! It's going to be busy the next few weeks!!