Million Dollar Rain

I must have some Lucky Farmer in my blood still. Yesterday I planted grass. Today it has been raining steadily. My mom, who grew up on a farm near Menlo, Kansas, once told me that a well-timed all-day soaker like this was called a "million dollar rain" because all by itself it could turn a wheat crop that was going to make 30 bushels an acre into one that was going to make 40 bushels. County-wide, an improvement like that could certainly add up to millions of dollars.

I did a quick Google search on "million dollar rain" and "wheat" and sure enough, the farmers in Michigan had one earlier this summer:

The lunch regulars came into the Judge's Bench in Winn soaked, but smiling.

A swath stretching from Grand Rapids to northeast of Mt. Pleasant through Winn was drenched with more than 2 inches of rain Monday, with some areas reporting more than 3 inches.

"It was really needed bad," said Pat Judge, owner of the popular restaurant and tavern. "This is probably a million-dollar rain."

-- "Rains bring quick relief," Morning Sun (Mt. Pleasant, MI), June 13, 2005.

Of course, for the little patch of grass in our back yard we're not talking millions of dollars. At best, this is a Sixty-two Dollar Rain. But I'll take it.