The rain has come! Wednesday night there was a hard shower for about 30 minutes, and then the cloud cover rolled in, and we have had lovely, gentle showers off and on for the past two days. I understand we may continue this way for a couple more days with a chance of storms during the day today and tomorrow, and thunderstorms this evening. (Wouldn’t you know that Dear Husband is planning on staying overnight on the Arr!!?)
The ground is absorbing every little drop! The plants are saying “AAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH!” Everything looks green and clean again.
I was sitting at my desk in the office, facing the window, and an unusual movement in the leaves of the magnolia caught my attention. Individual leaves were fluttering here and there. A plink to the left, and a twitter higher up on the right. Another in the center, followed by another on the lower left. I thought at first there might be little birds on the branches behind the leaves, until I realized I was seeing the start of the rain. Bring it on! I’m ready for more. As a matter of fact, we could have gentle rain like this all week long and I’d love it.
I made a stop at Costco on Friday. When I went into the store the rain had stopped, so of course I left the umbrella in the car. As I neared the exit, there were a number of women standing with their carts, looking out at the renewed storm. I paused for a minute, and decided I wasn’t going to melt and sallied forth saying to the women I passed “We might as well enjoy it while it’s here.” You know….there was a parade of women out in that rain, enjoying getting soaked!

I was thinking about popcorn yesterday. Actually, popcorn and age.
When I was a kid we’d get out an old dutch oven and pour some oil into the bottom, heat it up, then pour a scoop of popcorn into it. One of us would have to shake the pot regularly to keep the kernels from burning on the bottom, and another had to melt some butter in a pan on the stove top. We made huge bowls of popcorn, because everyone in the family would have a generous helping. You could buy corn right from the farms where it was grown, grow your own, or just buy it at the grocery store.

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There’s no point in worrying, what will be, will be. But due to drought, Illinois is likely to loose the majority of it’s crops this year. Iowa and Illinois reign in the growing of corn and soybeans. If I remember correctly, Iowa is first in corn and second in soybeans and Illinois is the reverse. This year the north and west central portions of the state are in extreme drought, and the remainder of the state is in severe drought. The desperate need for precipitation flows from roughly Milwaukee to central Missouri with echos of severe, moderate and abnormally dry ringing the area hardest hit. Some analysts are predicting a twenty percent decline in production for the year.

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