We pray for rain, and as soon as it starts, we complain that it’s raining. That’s so American. We have so much already that we have to look far and wide for something more to pray for or to “image” as the New Agers would put it.
But lack of rain can be a real concern out here on the western rim of the U.S., and only falling rain can make that different. Beyond changing moods and outlooks, rain makes for crops, for the salmon run, for Mother Nature to unfold her magic in developing and sustaining life.
This wonderful, soft, soaking rain we’re having right now has arrived earlier in the fall than usual. It has never been more needed. We’ve had two dry winters in a row, wells were running dry, soils tests could not be completed. The requirement to complete a soils test is that the soil has to be checked over a period of time. They need 20 inches of rain fall, followed by three, one-inch events. That did not happen last year in northern California.
I’ve never lived anywhere where growing things are happier or more persistent than here. You cannot tell by driving our roads or highways that there has been a rain shortage at all. What is evident is an abundance of “foreign” plants that have been brought in here, things like Sudan grass, gorse, and Scotch broom, all of which are quite a problem. But mostly there are blackberries. I don’t know who’s responsible for starting these blackberries.
Apparently you can’t actually get rid of them. They are everywhere, most of them huge, but not at all healthy, scrawny leaves, mean to the touch, sour fruit. Why can’t deer eat blackberries instead of roses?
Anyhow, I just want to thank everybody who prayed for rain. It’s beautiful.
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