It actually did rain. A couple of weeks ago.
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- Friday evening, I was out on the back patio, watering those always-thirsty plants. A bit of drizzle started to fall. HAH! I said to myself. Rain? I doubt it.
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- Then it began to rain a little harder, like it really meant business. Some of the July chalk marks on the driveway still existed, and there was a big dry arc under the White Oak tree.
Then it began to pour. Rain fell, on and off, all day Saturday. Then it kept up all day Sunday. It doesn’t matter how much I water, nothing fills the bill, literally, like real rainfall.
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- This is impatiens, which I totally understand, is a springtime plant. It doesn’t do well in the summer heat. But, I’ve had it grow and bloom all summer the past couple of years. (It will die back in the winter, but I purchase new plants each spring.) When we returned from our trip in July to Tennessee, it was doing pretty poorly, despite being sheltered on the shady, north side of the house. It looked awful, and I watered and watered it. No go. Until it rained. Then, TA-DAH, the flowers came back!
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- This is Bolivian Jew, a type of Wandering Jew. It was growing all lush and full in this water can. REALLY lush and full. Then, apparently, I lost track of where the hole in the can’s top was located. I just ran water over it every day or so. I thought the loss of lushness and greenness was due to the heat. But, after trimming it back and discovering my oversight, I started watering it again. In the right spot. I watered it every day. Plenty. It still looked pretty peaked.
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- Until it rained. Huge improvement. Overnight. I think it’s on the mend.
I buy these pretty plants each spring. They are two or three inches tall when I get them. This year I bought sixteen of them, I think. They are heat tolerant and thrive in my western exposure front bed. They reseed themselves all during the summer. They were doing all right. Blooming. New ones were growing. Then it rained. The blossom count doubled, and has stayed high. See those two flowers in the middle, with the darker centers? Those aren’t flower centers. Those are bees. I’m doing my part for the local bee population and honey harvesters.
But, just in case I’ve lost all hope for nicer weather, the fine folks at the HEB grocery store would like to remind me that I shouldn’t feel like SUMMER WILL NEVER END! (Which is a little bit how I feel, as I do every August, and into September.) Halloween (and the END OF OCTOBER) is apparently just a heartbeat away!!
Even Peter thought it was inappropriate.
Celebrate and sing! Play your harps for the Lord our God.
He fills the sky with clouds and sends rain to the earth, so that the hills will be green with grass.
He provides food for cattle and for the young ravens, when they cry out.
The Lord doesn’t care about the strength of horses or powerful armies.
The Lord is pleased only with those who worship him and trust his love.
Psalm 147:7-11 (Contemporary English Version)
I know. If I want it to rain on me more, I should move somewhere else. I do feel fortunate that we live in an area with a very big lake. We have enough water to drink and to use for cooking and for keeping my plants healthy. I know that many other people are not so fortunate.