Thursday, June 21, 2012

The Rain We Didn't Get


The National Weather Service issued a Severe Thunderstorm Warning for our area this afternoon. We don't get excited about those anymore, because for the last seven-plus weeks, no matter what the weather forecasters said, we didn't get a drop of it.

As I was taking a stroll through the garden, trying to figure out what was going to survive and what would likely continue its downward spiral through drought hell, I heard thunder. I've heard that before, too. Doesn't mean a thing. We got the most gorgeous rainbow I've ever seen in my life a few weeks ago, but we didn't get any of the rain to go with it.

June 2, 2012


This time, I could smell the rain. It's a lovely, quirky smell - not like the delightful fragrance just after the rain has fallen - but pleasing all the same. The skies in the west got darker, the temperature dropped, and the winds that have been blowing for days, zapping the moisture from the leaves of plants that couldn't afford to lose it, turned noticeably cooler.

And then the storms turned. Again.

When I was working regularly in New Haven (Indiana), just 25 miles west of here, so many times I'd leave work where it was pouring felines and poochies, only to arrive home to dusty, dry everything. I pictured those storms reaching the state line and splitting - off to the north and off to the south - and we were left in the middle, denied again.

I'd sit down after supper and watch the news, with reports of the downpours all around us, many  times with accompanying video, and it was torture to watch. I wanted to scream at the television, "WE didn't GET any!!"

This one went north...


And so it was again today. I stood in my garden and watched the rain fall from the sky, eight to ten miles north. But there was still hope. Another line of storms was headed our way. Maybe that one would bring the badly needed rain to us. Again, the thunder. Again the smell of rain in the air. And again, it turned - this time southward.

This is the worst it's ever been since I've become a gardener. We've had hot and dry summers for the last several years in a row, but this year is different. We didn't get the usual spring rains that give our plants a good start to the season. They didn't have a chance to beef up before the hot and dry started.

Cracks in the garden

Our pool was installed in 1988. That was another bad year and one that up to now we've used to measure all other years against. We had a drought and heat that was at times unbearable, even with the pool. When it's 106ยบ outside (June 25, 1988), the water isn't even refreshing. But this year is already worse and it's only June.

There's yet one more line of storms headed our way and I'm hopeful that the third time will be a charm...


6 comments:

Chicken Wrangler said...

This seems to be a very strange year for weather. Our rain (and yours, too!) must have stopped in Minnesota - have you seen the floods in the news? We are doing okay so far, not as dry as what you have shown in your photo. We will pray it turns around for all of us.

Reasonable Season (Me) said...

Oh... I'm so sorry that the rain keeps heading the other way. I truly hope it turns around for you - literally - ASAP.

Lisa at Greenbow said...

I feel your pain over here in SW Indiana Kylee. The same thing happens to us. You can even watch the radar and see how the rain comes charging up to the Wabash River and then splits around us. Our poor garden is a sorry state of affairs. I just wonder what the normally hot dry part of summer will bring us.?? Ever hopeful.

Cindy Garber Iverson said...

How disappointing to smell that wonderful smell of rain and then not have it come. How disappointing for you and your thirsty plants.

Our summers rarely have rain and we get those triple digit days several times. The solution I found was to install a drip system throughout the entire garden with a dripper at the base of each plant. Only 15 minutes of dripping early each morning keeps the plants alive through the dry summer, believe it or not. It doesn't take much.

Cindy at Rosehaven Cottage

Swimray said...

I was ready for our predicted thunderstorms last night, too, especially after three days in the 90s. Everyone got rain except Alexandria. The sprinkler in on as I write.
-Ray

RobinL said...

I don't know where the rain is going, but it isn't hitting here in the SE suburbs of Columbus either. Storms come right at us, then float away, leaving us parched. We've had lots of dry summers here, but this is the worst. My lonely little rain barrel isn't helping in the least. It's all very frustrating.

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