Rain

We haven't had much measurable rainfall in Austin for about a year now, since October of 2010.  The summer of 2010 was one of the wettest I remember!  We had several tropical storms hit our area, and as a result, the ground was saturated....good thing.  Beginning in October, the faucet shut off.  We are now facing a deficit of somewhere around 20 inches.  There was a story on the news last night that a pump that pumps water into a local lake is broken.  As a result, two large nearby cities, who depend on this lake for water, have been put on very strict and serious watering restrictions as the repair will take two weeks.  Of course, most of you have probably heard of the terrible wildfires our area has endured this summer.  Hundreds of people in our area have lost their homes and all their possessions in the last month or two.

I've never seen it this bad.  I spent 18 years of my life here before moving to Kansas City, and I've never seen it this bad.  It makes me think of Biblical famines, like those the Egyptians faced which lasted 7 years...I can't imagine.  I literally cannot imagine.

All week long, the weathermen have been forecasting that 4-letter word we are all dying to hear...rain!  Honestly, I'm to the point where I'll believe it when I see it.  About a week ago, there were 3 or 4 days when each afternoon, rain showers were all around us.  But each day, they missed us.  They got so close we could hear thunder, see mammatus clouds, and smell the rain on the wind, but not a drop fell.

But today, the flood gates of heaven finally gave way!  It rained...several times!  

It was such a beautiful and wonderful sight.  As we were watching from our living room, the thought occured to me that Juliet probably doesn't remember rain.  She saw it as an infant during that rainy summer of 2010, but she was just a few months old at the time.  For most of her life, she's seen sunny days.  We decided the rain was cause for celebration...we all went outside to stand under it and enjoy the moment.  

Juliet opened her arms to catch the rain and held out her tongue to greet the tiny drops, welcoming them to her mouth.  She seemed to enjoy it!  Of course, the humidity made her hair curl like a ribbon...it's so pretty!

There is more rain to our west tonight.  I'm really praying it will move our way and give the earth a good soak.  We so desperately need it.  The forecast calls for rain tomorrow and maybe on Monday too.  The thirsty ground would definitely welcome that!  I never thought I'd be so happy to see water falling from the sky.