Ahhh, Rain!

That sound! Can you hear it? The gentle, lovely pitter patter of rain! After days of unseasonable hot sunny weather, you can feel the Earth thirsty; the plants straining in their new growth. Now, ahh. . . rain, bliss! A gentle, steady, soaking rain to give the young plants, the trees, the frogs, and all beings, some welcome moisture.

I just finished reading the novel Stormy Weather, by Paulette Jiles. It's a story about living through the seven year drought of the Dust Bowl era ninety years ago. Drought is a dry parched thought. Finding one plant shriveled from lack of water is sad; imagining living without rain for days, weeks, month, years -- brings dread.

So, I am grateful for the rain. Very grateful for the rhythm of sunshine and rain, bringing life-giving warmth and moisture. And I can get very grumpy when I hear radio announcers go on and on about how wonderful it is to have so much sun and to disparage the rain when it comes. I rant at the invisible voices -- 'do you like to eat?!!' 'Cause without the rain, we would be in trouble feeding ourselves! Plants don't grow with sunshine alone. Every day can't be picnic weather!

Yet, there may be some who are reading this who have had too much water recently -- with flooding and the unrelenting movement of water that breaks all barriers. That is another side of the gift of rain. Too much of a good thing. . . and the interconnectedness of ecosystems and larger patterns at work.

Where am I going with this? Gratitude and opportunities for response.

I am grateful for the rains when they come; and grateful for the sun after rain. And I want to do my part to tend and care for the part of the Earth where I live. It's bigger than that though. We can learn from the Dust Bowl era by considering what went on before the seven year drought--how was the land treated; what parts did humans play in the disaster of that drought? How are we treating the Earth now? Have we actually learned from that very difficult period of history?

So. . . What can you do to protect the watershed in which you live? What can you do for the soil that is foundational to all that we eat?

Ahh, rain, many thanks; and may I do my part to tend and protect the land and the waters. May I offer care and support to those impacted by flood and drought.