Sunday, August 5, 2007

How Dry I Am

Around 6:30 tonight, I was sure it was going to rain. The sky was dark with clouds, the wind was picking up, and something in the air just made me feel that a storm was coming. Here it is four hours later and not a drop. That about sums up the summer. The rain has threatened to fall but has failed to follow through. The consequences for my garden have been relatively minimal. I've been doing my best to water deeply when I can. When I haven't been able to I've been taking comfort in the fact that my borders are fairly well established and can take a short dry period in stride. The drought has had a far more noticeable impact over at my in-laws. I snapped this photo over at their place yesterday. Looks like a dirt road, right? Wrong!

That is a dried up pond. So dry that the earth on the bottom is cracking. Even though some vegetation is managing to soldier on, all I can say is "Yikes!" Neighbours who've been in the area far longer than my in-laws say it's the first time they've ever seen the pond in such dire straits. Small fish that filled the pond were either plucked out of the shallow waters by birds or dried out on the pond floor only to become snacks for assorted wildlife. All of this strikes me as somewhat of a minor catastrophe in the grand scheme of things. Here's hoping for rain. And soon.

3 comments:

Connie said...

We are having very hot and dry conditions here, as well, and the forest fires are making the air very smokey today....not my favorite time of year. :-(

Iowa Gardening Woman said...

We had a long dry spell but for the past two weeks we have been getting lots of rain so I hope some heads your way. That pond really needs a drink.

Anonymous said...

I know human beings have been scratching their heads for millennia and saying "Wow, hasn't the weather gone weird?"
But, er, you know... hasn't the weather gone weird?