Wednesday, July 3, 2013

Downloading Plans for an Ark

Well, the rain keeps coming down in torrents despite promises otherwise by the weatherfolk. We get occasional breaks, long enough to drive to the store or the library usually, but then the skies blacken and the lightning returns and the thunder rolls over and we're back under water again. The mango tree was starting a second crop and between the rain and the wind a half dozen not-quite-ripe mangoes have been knocked down so far. They're salvageable.

The canals are all full to the brink (but they have been for a while now) and we are under a flood warning. The swale around our property and the lower part of the driveway are under water as is the low part of the back yard. Some roads have been flooded although not near us. The swales, ditches and low spots by the sides of the roads, however, are all wet and rising.

The local paper reminds us that we are the lightning capital of the country. A sheriff's patrol car was struck by lightning out on the Interstate yesterday damaging the flasher light assembly on the roof. I'm sure it got the deputy's adrenaline flowing, too.

Also, the mosquito control agency is warning everyone that the continuous storms are not only creating standing water everywhere that will invite increased breeding of our 48 different species of bloodsuckers but are also preventing the spray planes from flying. So, we're on our own for now.

At least the birdbath doesn't need daily replenishing although no one visits it now, either. I did see a dove bathing in the driveway.

Jasmine and her daughters are not fans of thunder especially when the strikes are within a quarter mile of the house as they were all night long the night before last. They're not as bad as a dog would be in similar circumstances but they do huddle together in one big soft, fluffy pile of nervous energy.

And still Bartleby prefers being under the lawn chair beneath the live oak to the comforts (and dryness) of the garage.


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