Tuesday, January 15, 2013

Relief and hope and rain

I can feel the drought hardened knot of tension in my gut begin to soften as the rain continues to plummet down. I adore warm winter rains. This one is a really gully-washer, up from the gulf coast. The warm clouds lumbered in, bellies full of rain, and they are dumping it here on the Ozark plateau.
That knot in my belly has been hardening and tightening these last two years. It's a knot of worry and fear. Worry that the drought is permanent. Fear that the green forests will wither and burn. Worry for my farm, my family and people as a whole. Water, water, water - of the three things needed to sustain life, it seems to be the most precious and threatened.
This worry will not go away. Even with 10-inches of snow on Christmas Day and a 6-inch gully washer this weekend, our lakes are still low, the land sucks up water like a sponge and the sleepy trees are not yet drinking. But the knot is softening.
I know worrying is not productive, and carrying tension is even harmful. I know all that we can really do about catastrophic climate change is be aware and adapt. In the long run, I want to be an advocate for water.Water is the most valuable treasure this earth has to give.
And right now, I'm just going to enjoy the rain and snow.

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