Around this time last year

Last year we were suffering a major draught that had started the winter before and lasted throughout much of the year. In fact the land was going up in smoke (literally) Wild fires came close to our house (about a mile) I remember that their was one day that I had to take a very winding path to get home because of all the road closures. I remember the smell of smoke hung in the air for days afterwards. I remember one night when I went out into our garage that we had just cleaned out some only to be alarmed by the smell of smoke. I went outside and started searching for the source. About a mile away there was the flames reaching for the stars. I frantically knocked at a neighbors door to ask them to call the fire department. The husband came out to look and the wife went in to make the call. Shortly after that we heard the sirens racing to the scene.

Now we have state parks that are closed due to all the rain we've received. Firefighters have had to perform hair-raising rescues. People have been lost to floods. I remember one of my entries last year described the grass on the campus. This year everything is green. Green grass, green trees, flowers. It's amazing. It reminds me of the Northeast U.S.

Once on one of our year migrations to visit the grandparents in Pennsylvania we went through Kentucky. Lord! Everything was an unrelenting green. Everywhere you looked it was green. I remember telling my folks how glad I would be to return home so I could see some nice yellow/brown grass.

Please don't get me wrong, I love this wet rainy weather. The temperatures have been bearable. With age I've gotten to be bothered by the heat. Never thought that would happen. It's great that I haven't needed to get out the hoses to water the grass. But I think this beautiful weather is at an end. I think the weather is getting ready to turn up the heat (literally) I know I better pull out the hoses and get them situated because my willows seem to be drooping and turning yellow. Tomorrow.