Finally -- Rain

This morning when I trudged out to water the surviving plants, I felt a bit of moisture -- then another. The fine mist that was falling was too weak to cause any sound, but within a few minutes, it was rustling on the dry leaves, darkening the pavement and steppingstones.

We needed rain, a good rain. Not only had we not had a drop for many, many days, but there is a forest fire about thirty miles away which has been burning for about four days, and the air has been full of smoke, not to mention the "particulate matter."

Unfortunately, we got only about a tenth of an inch, but there is hope that we'll get more through the night, the remnants of Tropical Storm Fay. I'll probably still have to haul water to my plants.

I discovered something rather interesting this evening, however, along the lines of "it's an ill wind that doesn't blow some good." I was walking around the yard, looking at this and that, and I noticed that the sassafrass tree is fuller than usual. The leaves are bigger and there are more of them than in a typical year. Maybe it likes this weather!