Tuesday, June 22, 2010, 05:27
Green
It is amazing how green and lush the world can become when there is rain. The weather was rainy again last week, and on Monday, we got another six tenths of an inch. Monday's rain came in brief but heavy downpours.
Monday evening, the first evening of summer, the air was heavy with moisture. Randy and I went for a walk for the first time in a long time up the dirt road north of our house. Between painting the newspaper office, getting ready for the open house, getting ready for the 100th anniversary celebration of the high school and the 91st annual fair last weekend, there has been precious little time for wandering along the road.
In the wet sand of the road, we saw impossibly tiny hoofprints -- a fawn following behind its mother. We never saw momma and baby, but we saw their tracks.
The trees along the road were heavy and wet and were dripping still. In the woods, we could hear the flute-like song of a Wood Thrush. There is something so lovely about a Wood Thrush's song that I could stand transfixed and listen to it forever as it echoes through the tall trees and the quiet places.
When we got back, as we approached the corner not far from the house , we must have startled a squirrel who tried to climb a tree. From the sound of it, the tree was very wet. And I would imagine the squirrel was very wet, too, by the time he got to where he was going.
Shortly after we arrived back in the yard, heavy mist began to gather along the low spots in the valleys. It looked like an enchanted world -- white and misty and ethereal.
Happy summer.
LeAnn R. Ralph
Wednesday, June 16, 2010, 06:56
Rainy Days
I have had enormous difficulty hanging clothes outside to dry lately. That's because in the last two weeks, we have gotten five inches of rain.
Five!
We have not gotten five inches of rain in two weeks in many years.
Tuesday evening I was at a township meeting for the newspaper, and the sky opened up, and it just poured. We got about a half an inch in 20 minutes. By the time I left the meeting -- which took place in a hilly area -- water was still draining off the hills, and the water runs were full of water. That's something I have not seen for a long, long time.
We need the rain. Desperately. I just wish I had a way to dry clothes.
Oh, sure, I could put them in the clothes dryer. And in fact, I dried a couple of loads in the dryer last weekend. But I am much, much too stingy to do that all of the time.
Besides, we have got to find ways to cut down on our energy consumption in this country. If we were not such oil hogs, companies would not have so much incentive to engage in dangerous drilling that results in environmental disasters.
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On a happier note, my newest great-niece was born June 14. Her name is Isabella Mae.
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The 100th Anniversary Celebration for the high school in my hometown this past weekend drew about 1,500 people to the program Saturday afternoon. My hometown only has a population of 1,000. . .
LeAnn R. Ralph