My birthday's coming up, and the only present I want is a couple days of steady rain. These desert conditions are driving me out of my god damned mind. Born and raised right here, I don't think my body even knows what to do with the lack of humidity in the air - I feel like I'm mummifying on my feet.
I crave a big North Florida storm. Nothing like standing in my doorway, watching leaves and pine straw blow in the street, clouds pushing and bumping across the sky forming landmasses and grey-bottomed airships. First the breeze picks up, blowing away some of the sticky heat, cooling sweat, making it worth venturing out of the a/c. Then, from my lookout point, I can see rain falling as it crawls toward me from miles away. Thunder growls, lightening flickers in the suddenly dark afternoon. Next thing I know, the water's all around me, coming down in bucketloads, near-solid sheets of rain. And when it finally blows out or roars away, everything feels clean and new. The air even tastes better.
Man, do we need it.
4 comments:
I saw a gator (reptile variety) crossing HWY 59, around which there is no water (its home must have dried up and it had to set out looking for a new one), and I don't know about where you live, but here in our woodsy area the yellow flies are becoming fierce this year! And this is tough on gardens...
I'm not surprised about the gator. I think I've seen more turtles either walking down the side of the road or lying there dead than ever before. All looking for water.
I know! How many days this year have you felt hope and anticipation all day, fueled by a darkening sky or a promising forcast, followed by disbelief when the chance just rolled by in a little breeze, and the next chance for rain was nowhere in sight?
The azaleas are drooping. Even the live oaks look thirsty and reptilian. A giant limb came crashing down on our street the other day.
Aren't you glad you're not a farmer?
I nearly cried a little this morning when I flipped on the weather channel while putting on my shoes. It's just not natural to see a forecast without a cloud in it down here. But yeah, the farmers have it worst. Those that haven't seen their friends burn to the soil get to watch the crops wither and starve.
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