I feel like Forrest Gump.
“One day it started raining and it didn’t quit for four months.”
There’s been all sorts of rain. I’ve seen it rain straight down, at angles, sideways, in circles, under my umbrella and more. Sometimes it's accompanied by wind, lighting or thunder. Sometimes it's accompanied by all three.
I’ve seen the storms knock down trees and flood a few streets. I’ve nearly hydroplaned.
It’s woken me up. It’s helped me sleep. It’s gotten me wet getting in and out of the car.
I know April showers bring May flowers. But what do these May and June storms bring?
We’ve seen rain almost every day for the last two months. It’s rained a good bit going all the way back into January.
Since the beginning of the year we have seen 28.81 inches of rain. Of that 9.65 inches came in May and 4.29 inches came in the first 19 days of June. Our average yearly rainfall is just above 53 inches. It appears we may be on pace to top that this year.
As a child I loved the mud and playing in the rain. I would have to rinse off before running to shower to get the warm water with soap.
We’ve been lucky for the most part that there hasn’t been any significant damage from the rain and storms.
I’ve seen the rain runoff effect on the river, especially the Coosa River. It filled the banks to the brim. At times I think I have seen the fish with umbrellas. I like to kayak but I’ve yet to have a day of reasonable water levels on the river coincide with a day off of work.
While my tomatoes appreciate the frequent baths from the skies, my feet need to dry out.
I need to get a paddle in the water and not be done in 20 minutes. I just need the rain to slow down enough to allow me to cut the grass without having to stop between rain showers.
I just want a few days break from the rain each week. Enough to keep my tomatoes happy but not so much I get wet getting in and out of the car or can’t paddle the river.
But I need to be careful what I wish for. While yes I want some dry weather, I don’t want the pendulum to swing too much in the direction of a drought. We don’t need the ground turning into a frying pan for our soles. The dust from a drought would not be good for our sinuses or those of us who water plants.
Just as much as I don’t want to see nothing but mud, I don’t want to see the other end of the scale either.
As a child, the smell of rain was amazing. It was like bacon cooking. It demanded your attention.
I can remember seeing raindrops hitting piles of powder like dirt after weeks of no rain. The ripples looked like someone throwing pebbles onto water.
Rain can force you to stop, watch and smell.
Rain, rain go away. Well sort of.
Can we have enough to water our plants and gardens, enough to paddle the rivers? But not such much we feel like ducks, trying to remain calm until you see our feet.
Cliff Williams is the news editor of Tallapoosa Publishers Inc.’s Elmore County newspapers. He can be reached at cliff.williams@thewetumpkaherald.com.
