Sunday Thoughts About Rain

Why am I thinking about Rain? Because we finally got some on Friday which was the first time since May!

Yikes. Yes, no rain in June, July, August, and the first 2 weeks of September. The subject of Rain became of great interest to us.

Lack of rain combined with triple digit days for 106 days straight took a toll of our yard even though we watered every day until water restrictions started in August.

Our area is allowed to water our yards only 2 days a week. Our days are Thursday and Sundays, and watering is allowed only between 9:00PM to 5:00AM. Even with limited watering, our water bill soared to over $250.00, and our St. Augustine lawn has patches of dead grass now.

I wondered how long we could go without rain so I did a little research and discovered some fascinating...

RAIN: SPRINKLE, DRIZZLE, DOWNPOUR ETC.

1. The driest place on earth is the Atacama Desert in northern Chile and southern Peru, averaging only .019 inches (half a millimeter) of rainfall each year. According to NASA, it's the driest non-polar desert in the world.

2. The rainiest place on earth is Mawsynram, in India’s Maghalaya state. It averages 467.4 inches of rain a year.

3. Virga is the name for raindrops that fall but never reach the ground. This happens because rain falls from clouds, but if the air is very dry, raindrops can evaporate during their fall to the ground.

4. Petrichor is the word coined by Australian scientists in 1964 for the distinctive smell of rain.

5. Raindrops are not really tear-shaped. They're round.

6. The height of clouds from which raindrops fall may vary, but raindrops fall at an average speed of 14 mph. Large raindrops fall faster at an average speed of 20 mph.

7. The record for the longest rainfall in history was recoreded at Manuawili Ranch, Maui, in 1939-40. Yes, over a two year span, it rained 331 consecutive days of measurable rainfall.

If you include just a trace of rain, that was also set in Hawaii at Honomu Maki, Oahu. From 1913 to 1916, it rained 881 consecutive days.

When it rained Friday, I felt like dancing in the raindrops, and I called everyone to report that it was raining at my house. Saturday, it rained again—a double blessing. If you're in a drought, I wish you rain!

TAKEAWAY TRUTH

Nature possesses the power to heal. I'm happy to report the dead spots in our lawn look not so dead today.

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