How do you spell R E L I E F ?

In the wee hours of Monday morning something happened that hasn't happened for awhile in the End of the Rainbow Valley..

It rained. How do you spell RELIEF ? R A I N. The farmers called it a 'million dollar' rain as that rain may have indeed saved their crops. I missed Monday's rainfall but tonight as I was weeding, the skies darkened and I got spit on a bit and then a little more. The rain drops felt good and I continued my outside work as the weeds really had continued growing without me during my almost 3 week absence. The nerve of them but apparently they really like hot weather.

Even though the temps dropped a good five degrees, the crickets sounded happier. Natureman couldn't rush in any faster to open all the windows to let in that fresher cooler air as if the AC had been choking him. He promised me that it would be cooler. AND he was right, it did cool down with another heavier rain later in the evening. The AC (air conditioner) has been used more this summer than in the six summers we have lived here.

The weather has been the 'hot' topic nationwide since the little to almost non existent snowfall for us this past winter. But it got me thinking a lot about water. Janet had a radio phone spot while we were together and 'WATER' was her topic. During our ride to northwest Arkansas the stressed dying trees were in your face.The new trees at Crystal Bridges were using these watering bags.

And Janet's radio message was that it's a lot more expensive to take down a dead tree than to pay for its watering in your yard. Yep, pull out your soaker hoses and give those trees water because they need it.

If you see dead/dying leaves on a branch, it's because that tree is dying, it's stressed. As we all know it's summer, not fall.

When I was housesitting during my Arkansas stay one of my jobs was watering the lawn. Do you remember having to move the sprinkler?

Well every hour and half the sprinkler had to be moved and that included a total of 4x/ 6 hours of watering.(See my brain isn't entirely fried from this heat.) I was appalled at the quantity of water used for just one household and not a gigantic yard at that.

Finding myself back in the Valley garden last night and watering the potted plants with Natureman enjoying the swing and view. ( I am a sight for sore eyes-LOL)

I asked a question that has been festering- Will our well run dry? And what happens if it does? I never even thought about water before having a 'well.' The eternal optimist Natureman replied, " It won't run out." BUT what if it did? "Then we'd have to dig deeper to another aquafer." I guess I will push that worry aside for a bit. I do think the water supply should be a major concern for all of us.
WELL... that's a story for another day in the End of the Rainbow Valley.