Over the course of the last year rainfall amounts in our area have been low. This has caused concern among those of us who rely on the regional water supplier who draw our drinking water from a small river that borders Greene and Madison Counties. There was a time last summer when our tap water had the distinct odor of mud which caused some of us to wonder if the river was truly drying up. There were murmurs of shortages and rationing that fortunately never came to pass.
After a dry winter, weather patterns have changed and we now find ourselves more than amply compensated for the rain deficit. In fact, in the past three weeks rainfall amounts have seemed to be of Biblical proportions resulting in landslides, major road flooding and even the changing of course of at least one small river. A week ago Greene County Emergency Services reported 42 road closures due to high water and mud, including five mudslides on US 33 through the Swift Run Gap. This meant that many folks living in the mountains and hollows were cut off from the main roads. Twelve inches of rain will do that!
On the days when the sun has shown out from the clouds, the sound of every lawn mover and tractor in the neighborhood fills the air as if we’re having a synchronized lawn care event. Woe be it to the poor soul who isn’t home during that brief window of time!
Except for the inconvenience of having to carry an umbrella at all times (just in case), Dave and I haven’t been affected by all this rain. We were fortunate to head home from our vacation over the mountain the day before the road was closed. Our back yard is soggy and the spring time barbecuing we love is a hit or miss sort of thing. Haven’t had the guts to check the crawl space to see if the weatherizing we had done a couple of years ago is holding fast. Our only concern is that the ground is so wet that if we do get a storm with any kind of heavy winds we could lose some trees.
So God, we are really thankful that You have blessed us and that our time of drought has come to a close but feel that it is time for this rain to move to some dryer part of the country where they really could use it, like Colorado for instance.