It's not nice to mess with Mother Nature

The great mid-west dust bowl has been gently wet down overnight with some much needed rain. There is no need to thank the Phactor, but clearly this was the result of our planning essential field work with only have certain windows of opportunity to do it. It's as if Mother Nature was displeased with our research designed to figure out how she works. In this particularly dry year, the precipitation is most welcome, but the necessity of harvesting some plants that will provide our data is pressing with both seasonal limitations and hunting season looming. No smart botanist does field work in a tallgrass prairie during hunting season; that's when you must send your students. So please Mom, only one more nice afternoon is needed on a day without a laboratory or lecture, and before they turn the Bambi blasters loose.