Rain of Gladness

Nothing Rhymes with Orange

Finally the rains come to the San Joaquin Valley of California! I use the exclamation point at the end of the sentence because it truly is worth the added punctuation. We farmers (as well as everyone else) here in the Valley have been awaiting our first weather "event" of the season for sometime now. The long months of June thru September have been filled with what seems like endless days of heat and dry, dusty conditions. But now the change has come, the clouds turn dark, the wind picks up, and then it happens...the first few drops of life giving moisture falls from the sky. Happy are the trees that enjoy the added water deep into their root systems. Their leaves soon will be cleansed from months of accumulated dust, to once again shine with the deep green color that makes every farmer happy and proud of what they do. As the rain starts being measured from drops to inches, we begin to let go (ever so slightly) of the uneasy feelings of the drought conditions we have been living with in recent years. As the evening falls we begin to rejoice in the knowledge that up high in the beautiful Sierra Nevada mountains, the snow is starting to fall. The falling snow that starts to add up over the late fall and into the winter, will become the 'lifeblood" as it melts and recharges our ground water supplies in the sping. Yes let it rain, let it rain... and in this we will be glad.