Rain

It finally happened. We did get some rain on my yard yesterday afternoon.

After teasing us with a few drops here and there all morning, it finally started raining for real in the early afternoon. It came down pretty steadily for more than an hour, sometimes hard, sometimes gently but all of it welcome.

About thirty minutes after the rain tapered off, I went out to look around and to check my rain gauge. I noticed that the surface of the ground already looked pretty dry again, even though it had obviously rained a good amount. The thirsty soil had sucked up every drop. The plants, though, all looked refreshed by their shower.

The rain gauge told me that we had received 1.2 inches of rain. If we could get about ten times that amount - not all at once, please! - over the next two to three weeks, it would go a long way toward breaking our drought.

Meantime, my plants and I are thankful for what we got, especially since we are now in stage one of mandatory water rationing, which means I can only water on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday. The ten-day weather forecast shows a possibility of rain for us at the end of next week. I'll be keeping my fingers crossed.