Each winter, I have an informal means of judging the severity of the season, of ascertaining annual snowfall.
It is quite simple, really. The more it snows, the more I run my snow blower. The more I run my snow blower, the more gas I use. Ergo, there is causality between my gas consumption and the amount of snow. (Last winter, by the way, there was a moderate amount of snow.)
It never occurred to me that the same connection might exist between the quantity of gas consumed by my lawnmowers and the amount of rain received, but that seems to be the case as well.
In the month of May, we received a lot of rain and I used a lot of gas. I recently quipped to a friend that it seemed that it was either raining or I was mowing lawn.
Indeed, the need to mow my lawn every three or four days has burned through a lot of gas so far this summer. My gas consumption is at a faster pace this year then in previous seasons, so that must mean that we are receiving more rain than usual.
With the price of gas over four dollars a gallon, I wish it would rain a little less often.
Peter Lyle DeHaan, PhD, is an author, blogger, and publisher with over 30 years of writing and publishing experience. Check out his book The Successful Author for insider tips and insights.