When The Rain Comes

It's been raining steadily now for about three days! I love it!

The ground is soggy, our rain tanks are full, and although it's been gloomy the entire time, I say "give us more!".

Since Friday, we've had about 3 inches of rain which means that within the first week of December it is already one of the wettest months of the year. We're closing out 2011 with some of the wettest months of the year: October had 2.4 inches and November had 3.4. The total so far is 15.8 inches. Last year we had 43.1 and an average year is about 33, so we're still behind.

I went for a hike today because I wanted to see what the property looked like during the rain. It was only drizzling lightly, but earlier it was raining pretty heavily. I took my chances - I didn't want to get my camera wet and I don't have a rain cover for it.

Scattered about our property are depressions, usually with rocks in the bottom. My theory is that they're small sinkholes where the underlying limestone has collapsed, but that's just a guess. Here's one that's near our house and it was full of water. The miniature pond is about 5 feet long and 4 feet wide and maybe 8 inches deep. It will hold water for a few days.

I actually got wetter walking under trees than out in the open because their canopies are soaked. Here's a shot of a live oak's leaves covered with water drops.

Finally, we have a wet weather creek running along the southern edge of our property. A wet weather creek is normally dry, but carries water during heavy rainfall. Along the creek are water holes, I suppose you could call them wet weather ponds, which will hold water for a week or two after a rain. They are quite large, maybe 60 feet by 30 feet and about 1.5 feet deep. They attract quite a bit of wildlife. We've seen cranes there and can hear frogs during summer nights from the house, which is about 1/2 mile away.

My attitude toward rain has definitely changed. I used to think that it just ruined the day, but now I wish we had more. I think I'm just paying more attention now.