Dry

I woke up to the beginnings of the most lovely gentle rain. I turned off the air conditioner and opened the windows to the welcome smells and sounds.  I can just imagine all the plants and critters feeling the first drops, having the dust and pollution start to run off, the first moisture rests on top of the soil and beads up, starts to pile up, until it slowly starts to soak in to the hard surface. With this gentle build up, much more is going to soak in versus run off.

It's been dry, dry, dry, turning crispy out, so this is the best thing possible. It has also been brutally hot, though this last week of record setting triple digits was not as humid as it often is with the heat. It last rained three weeks ago, over an inch in ninety minutes, and this is so much better because more of it will be retained. According to the radar from the Weather Underground, it's likely to last a while and this is good.  I ordinarily would complain that if its only going to rain two days a month, it shouldn't be on Saturday, but the truth is we need it so badly and I have only chores planned for the weekend anyway.

With the dry, stress is apparent all over. I keep a bird bath full of water, and it draws more than just birds. The constant parade of wildlife drives the dog nuts, which she expresses loudly and continually.  The crispiness has driven the deer up out of the creek into my yard, at least three times in the last week.  The first time, coming home around ten pm, I noticed my sunflowers by the street had been chomped off at the top, and discovered the miscreant still in the woodland part of my yard, though she turned and sauntered away insouciantly as I approached. Next, a couple of days later, the big hosta had been munched off, and I checked the apples - all the high up ones were gone, but not the lower level ones. When I came home Thursday night, as I drove up the street a deer was by my copper trellis, probably aiming at the rose bush right there. I rolled the window down and pulled right up to the edge and yelled "shoo". The deer, which had been just standing there, moved back a few feet and continued to watch me. I parked, and came around from the corner so as to drive the deer back towards the creek. "Shoo" I called (trying to balance the noise to scare the deer but not make my neighbors look). The deer reluctantly moved a few steps.  Having just seen on YouTube a deer trample a dog, I was a little cautious approaching this big guy. I shook my keys to make noise, and that did the trick.  She ran to the woodland, and as I continued to approach with "Shoo" and keys jangling, she finally took off to the creek.  Charismatic mega-fauna my aunt sally!

I haven't watered the yard because I haven't been around enough.  When I was around over the fourth of July weekend, we were on water restrictions and not allowed, due to a water main break.  I was going to do it today, had the rain not come.  Hooray for the rain!

Other wildlife notes:  we saw a fox on Piney Branch road around midnight on July 1. They are still rare enough to note. This was a big guy, probably as tall or taller than my dog, but very much skinnier. I think a grey fox. I slowed to look closely and verify it was NOT a coyote. I assume all coyotes look like Charlie and this was clearly a fox - tiny chest.

Last night we had homemade blueberry pie, from the more than five cups of blueberries we picked from the one bush I'd covered with a net!