I'm glad y'all didn't flood.

Mud, mud and more mud seems to be our cross to bear this winter. On the other hand, it has been so long since the pond was full in winter that it is odd to look at it and see it full of water. In recent years, ever since the spring that fed our big pond dried up around 2008, our pond is empty more than it is full, so having it full is shocking. Even the overflow pond that catches the runoff from the big pond is full, and then the overflow pond overflowed into the season creek that feeds the year-round creek. We have water (and mud) everywhere. That's pretty typical for an El Nino year and I appreciate having the moisture, though I'm not overly fond of the mud.

Sunshine down here has been sketchy. We'll get sunshine for an hour or two and then clouds move in and we lose it, so we still have been pretty cool. The dogs and I have skipped our early morning walks down our quiet country road and saved them for the early afternoon when it is about as warm as it is going to get. It might be only 10 or 15 degrees warmer in the early afternoon than it was at sunrise, but at this time of the year, that 10-15 degrees really does make a difference.

We have three finch feeders up and several other types of seed feeders and our place looks like a bird sanctuary now. The little birds are hungry and happy to have food, and their singing and carrying on righten brightens up a dreary, cool, cloudy day.

I'd like to be out cleaning up the garden, but it still is too muddy. I think in a couple more days, the paths may dry out enough that I can walk in there. Water seeps down into the garden from the higher ground next door when it is excessively wet like this, so my garden stays very wet for a lot longer than I like.

I agree it could be worse, and with NASA's announcement that El Nino is not even done with us yet, I think it might get worse. Now that El Nino has rehydrated all of Oklahoma's dry, parched soil and has refilled bodies of water with abundant moisture, I wish it would hurry up and get on out of here, but it seems inclined to stick around for a while.

I hope the flooding in eastern OK, AR, MO, and elsewhere doesn't get too much worse. Enough is enough already, but the Old Mississippi for sure is going to keep on rolling until all that flood water makes its way downstream. I hope the levees. floodgates and sandbags hold and do their jobs to keep the water as under control as possible.

I've linked NASA's latest El Nino update, and it includes a comparison of Sea Surface Temperatures from this El Nino with those from the strong 1997 El Nino. Looking at the strength of the current SSTs, I'd say things are not looking good (for us). We may be tired of El Nino's effects, but El Nino looks wound up and ready to really wallop the US (and the rest of the world) over the next few months.

I'm trying to remain calm and patient, albeit wet and muddy after each excursion outdoors. El Nino won't last forever and the day will come all too soon that we'll be needing moisture and hoping for rain, though that is hard to imagine right now. Often, though not always, El Nino is followed by La Nina, and La Nina summers are garden killers, so I'm trying to think positive and imagine that this year La Nina will not follow El Nino. I'd say we deserve a nice, normal gardening year, but I don't even know what would be considered normal any more.

NASA's Latest El Nino News

That is the truth!! What is normal? If you are as punch drunk with weather extremes as we are, I don't think we would even recognize normal. I am sure some people would say that normal is a state of mind.

i would just like to get a year where we get rain when we need it and dry when we need that!!! Christmas wishes are over but I can hope, right?

well back down to reality. I did get the barn cleaned out, 7 wheelbarrow loads later, but it is in nice shape. I need to clean on the garden but mine is sloppy wet to so I will wait.

Hope it stays nice for a while.