Here in Central Texas, we’re having the Storm Before the Lull.
Every time it rains, I’m thrilled. It’s springtime, and so lots of rain isn’t unusual. But, usually by mid-June or so, rainfall is a distant memory. Now, the trees look great, the lawns look lovely, the flowers are blooming. And we’re needing to have the sprinkler systems checked because it’s not going to keep on raining every time we turn around. The temperature will be rising, the sun’ll be beating down pretty regularly, and all the living things, flora and fauna, will be starting to wilt in the heat.
And it will be like that until September, or maybe later.
Sure, there might be a rain shower. Every now and then. Maybe.
But for now, summer’s heat seems like a distant omen that we understand might be coming, but we’ve sort of put it out of our minds.
Here’s what happened a couple of days ago: Tuesday is the day the mowers come, and they do three yards on a row on our block. They moved the mowers off the truck, hurried into mowing mode, racing around my and my neighbors yards, trimming, blowing away the leaves and grass, and quickly and efficiently getting our yards into shape. Then, they packed up and roared away. Very efficient.
I needed to make a trip to the drug store, which I did right after the mowers were done. And, a bit later, after I was back home, I walked by the front door and saw that torrents of rain were pouring down. “Well,” I thought. “That explains their rush.”
It rained like that for the rest of the day and into the night.
The next morning, here’s what I saw in my back yard. A bit of a lake. Rain had fallen, nonstop, for several hours.
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- Before . . .
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- The other side of the back yard, where it seems as though fish could be jumpin’. And, a largeish piece of pecan tree, which got battered down.
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- This puddle isn’t TOO deep, but I’m walking around it on the grass (also very wet, but not slippery).
Peter’s wading pool, which has several uses besides splashing around in the water. It can be a roof. It can be a wall for a structure. It can be a sand box. And, if I don’t empty it out soon, it can be a breeding ground for mosquitoes.
So versatile.
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- I spent some time Thursday afternoon picking up all the branches and twigs that fell during the earlier, pouring rain.
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- The crepe myrtle tree leafed out handsomely a few weeks ago. Today, I saw the buds for the flowers that will bloom soon.
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- This is some of the worst of the February damage. The grass close to the patio froze away.
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- Lost grass here, too.
All the rain has made the front yard look great. The small dead part at the base of the light is the result of that February freeze. It is a little bit slow coming back. I’m sure it’ll come around.
But all in all, it’s been a very nice spring around here.
My teaching, let it fall like a gentle rain, my words arrive like morning dew,
Like a sprinkling rain on new grass, like spring showers on the garden.
Deuteronomy 32:2 (The Message Translation)
I believe I’m going to start taking my Bible study stuff outside each morning. I could use some teaching falling like a gentle rain, arriving each morning like dew.