A common blog topic--but not from me--is the weather. I can't help myself. It's the big news item around here-besides gas prices.

It could be worse, but we've been hit pretty hard here in Indiana with bad weather. It's been hot, windy, and rainy for the past week. I can deal with that, but when it gets extreme, I get a little skittery.

I was on the golf course yesterday when lightning bolts came flashing out of the clouds. That's never good. Then it poured buckets. My rain gauge caught over 2" in an hour. Down in Southern Indiana, they had upwards of 11"! The pictures on TV were amazing, showing flooded areas.

We've had tornadoes rake the state in the past week, including one about 5 miles from my house. I headed for the basement during that episode. Again, I'm glad I had a sump pump installed down there. My house is on a mound, but the water table is exceedingly high.

My gardens have drained ok, but the farmers have standing water everywhere, drowning out the crops. Here's your forewarning: food prices are going to go up. And corn for ethanol? Forget it. It's not going to happen and it's not going to solve gas prices.

I hear and see a lot of depression in the faces of my fellow Hoosiers. I'm pretty well off, but I too can feel the hurt. Let's hope the worse is over.