i heart macro: And the Rain Finally Came

I've been out a few weeks.  When I last posted, it was the week after the drought photos and I had gone back to showing Colorado summer vacation photos rather than continue showing cracked dirt, which admittedly was pretty depressing.

But cracked dirt,

(and cracked concrete...

 ...and cracked ceilings 

and stuck doors)...

...had actually been the state of things all summer.  We were just trying to ignore it.   

When we started falling down the holes, tripping over the cracks in sidewalks, and poking holes in the bottoms of our shoes from the dried grass (...why yes, I did make up 1 out of 3 of those), we finally admitted to ourselves that it had gotten too danged dry.

I heard jokes about washing cars more often, leaving car windows rolled down, and hanging laundry outside to dry--things we normally joke about bringing on rain, hoping that it would.  Finally, even I did something I never do, and that was wish for rain.   I'd much rather have a sunny day than a dark cloudy wet one.... until now. 

Well fortunately, our luck has been slowly edging in the right direction again.  And I have  some strange--if not always good quality--photos to show you!

One day, about 2 weeks ago, it rained "this much" but like a baby's first steps, we were so thrilled, I rushed out and took this photo of the drops coming down and changed my personal banner on Facebook for the first time since I started it!  

Another week later, still parched, this one came along.  Barely better, but it had more hope behind it...

And yes, we are talking about another big deal event here with Sharyl running to grab her camera, out in the "pouring" rain to snap a shot before it ended and evaporated!

Oh yes, and the 2nd big wing-ding-deal about this--the Facebook banner was changed again so the world would know it had rained in our corner of Kansas.

Have you ever been afraid to wish for something for fear something else bad might happen as a result?  (Well, we won't go there, ...) but it is unfortunate that it was the hurricane that hit Louisiana and Mississippi so badly that finally brought us needed moisture.   

After destruction in the South, it brought some life back to the midwest... the result of our first real rain in many months.

Can you believe it?  A puddle?!  I didn't even go outside to take these photos.  It's plenty clear what's going on here.  And look how the dead grass is suddenly turning green again!  How does it do that so quickly?!

The wind picked up quite a bit and tree limbs were blowing around, so these next ones are "abstract," but I liked them anyway.

#6:   "Rain Finally Came"

This feels like our "second Spring."  I kept saying we needed a 2nd one.  

But what if it were like this every year?   Barely any winter, dry and fairly warm.   Spring in winter.  Hot, hot, too dry summers with crops (as well as flower gardens) destroyed.  Homes and other buildings, roads, natural gas lines all with structural damage.   Then when it's time for Fall, it turns to Spring again.   Now that sounds surreal.  It sounds like real climate change.   And I think I had better be careful what I wish for...

Thank you for entertaining my musings about weather twice now.  It's really not something I normally think about--unless an ice storm knocks the power out for a couple of weeks--then you might get a complaint out of me. ;-)

Hope you have a good, lovely, just-right- weather kind of Autumn!   

Now lets go see if anyone has lovely nature photos over at Studio Waterstone!

i heart macro!

Sharyl  ~Sharyl's Jewelry
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P.S. Sunday morning report:

I just got up, stepped outside-- and spooky as it is to report, the grass needs mowing and the daylilies have popped out of the ground and are up about 5".    ("Spooky" because I stayed up much of the night writing this entry about the "2nd Spring!")

We can experience Spring the same time as our Australia family and friends this year.    

Question:  Do you see this as cause for celebration or cause for concern?

I'd love to hear your take on this!  

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