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Wednesday, October 08, 2008

Drip, drip, drip


We had rain during the night!!! The first in many weeks. Not enough to take us out of a drought category, but still a help. It reminded me of a post I wrote in October last year, 2007, so I decided to run it again. Turn on your computer's sound to hear the little song.

October 2007
Ah.... Hear that?! Drip - drippy-tee - drip. YES! It's RAIN!! Finally! We have rain; days of the beautiful stuff! (Turning cartwheels here, if I knew how.)

October is normally our driest month of the year, but our drought is broken by the wettest October in local history. Not the hard, frog strangling, gully washers, but exactly the kind of rain needed: days of the softest, steadiest, gentle rain you ever saw measuring over five inches. In today's newspaper I read the outdoor watering ban is lifted; we may water our lawns as much as we want. HA!

I had almost forgotten how to turn on the windshield wipers of my car; it had been so long since I'd used them.

Our Governor has canceled his no outdoor burning ban for the state. (But some towns, such as Lexington, never allow burning inside city limits without stringent permits - ever.) And, in Eastern Kentucky, where our water supply begins in the Kentucky River, it has been down rated from extreme drought to severe drought.

I hope it does not make a stranger of itself and stay away long, again. All summer I worried about Glitter, the little goldfish that lives in the small waterlily pool. His water evaporated a good deal, and I am sure the temperature of it became very warm, maybe too warm.

I cannot add water straight from the tap into his pool because of chemicals used at the water treatment plant. Therefore, I tried to catch any rainwater that happened our way. Now that I have collected several inches lately and added it to his pool, maybe I can bring inside the assorted pans and buckets I left out in hopes of catching any, and every, stray drop of rain possible.

We did not get real rains during the summer, but occasionally, and rarely, a little white cloud would drip, thinly sprinkled drops, as if it, too, was perspiring in the severe heat we were enduring. We would look about the sunny, heat baked yard and say, "are drops falling? it is so hot even the clouds are sweating!"

Then, they would float on by, reminding me of "The Little White Cloud That Cried". Some of us remember that song recorded by Johnny Ray, it was a sweet little song. If you would like to listen to it, here is a link that will take you to a lovely page. Just turn up the sound and enjoy: http://www.stinalisa.com/LittleCloud.html

13 comments:

Anonymous said...

I'm so glad you got at least some of the rain you so desperately needed.

Barbee' said...

nancybond (Canada): Thank you, Nancy, I felt like dancing. At least it settled the dust.

Anonymous said...

Yay Rain! It looks like more & more people are finally starting to get some rain after a long dry summer.

Barbee' said...

perennialgardener (Virginia, U.S.A.): Yes, finally! I hope the sodden gardens are spared, though.

tina said...

Just wanted to drop by and say CONGRATS your Blotanical award and yahoo for the rain! I was working in it and quite happy to be. Take care.

Steve said...

Barbee, my Mother from Louisville was just as worried. You guys have been amazingly dry. Congratulations on getting rain!

Out here the Winter has basically begun. I look forward to seeing the sun on a regular basis in a short 6-7 months, lol.

Aunt Debbi/kurts mom said...

Yipee for your rain. Hope you get a more.

Meadowview Thymes said...

Glad you got some rain--hopefully there will be more to come.
Is that picture what your garden looks like now? I have been wondering what fall looks like in your area. I'm always facinated by the seasons in other areas. :)

Barbee' said...

tina (Tennessee, U.S.A.): Hi, Tina, yahoo! is right. Thanks for the congrats; actually, mine was a nomination. Frances was the winner of the award, and between the two blogs, the better blog won. She's been around longer than I, and she has a much larger following. I enjoy hers, too. There have been times when I worked in the rain... as long as it isn't lightening sometimes I keep going.

Steve (Oregon, U.S.A.): Yes, and Louisville had all that wind. We had some, but they were hit worse. "A short 6-7 months", oh, yuk! That's a long time.

Aunt Debbi/kurts mom (Texas, U.S.A.): We are still working on transplanting bearded irises... will it ever end! Re-doing that large island bed. Hope the rain holds off again, until we get some more of that done.

Meadowview Thymes (Texas, U.S.A.): Hi, Meadowview Thymes, the photo was taken last year, but it will look like that in about a week. I thought I would go ahead and put it up, because the winter one is not as pretty and it will be up for a long time. I enjoyed your post about your trip east. Nice photos!

tina said...

Nominations are good Barbee. I know Frances won first place, but I took it to mean you won a spot in the awards too. Congrats anyhow!

Balisha said...

Hello Barbee,
Sweet story about the little fish, Glitter. You have a big heart,to worry about a wee fish.

Kerri said...

Yippee for your rain! That slow steady stuff is wonderful. We've been alternately dry and wet this gardening season, but all in all it was an excellent one.
Sad to see it end, but the rest will be welcomed :)
I hope to stay caught up with my blog friends a little better.
I always enjoy your writing. You have such a zest for life and a lovely gift for communicating it to us. Thank you :)

Barbee' said...

tina (Tennessee, U.S.A.): Thanks, Tina, much appreciated.

Balisha (Illinois, U.S.A.): Thank you, Balisha, I felt responsible.

Kerri (New York, U.S.A.): I knew you were super busy this summer; glad you had a good one for your plants (once the painters left!). I thank you for the positive support. I didn't feel very zesty this summer, but feel better now with the cooler temps and a little rain.