A Rainy Night In Texas

A hot wind danced around lightning in the dead of night in Keller and brought with it some rain. Finally. I woke up this morning to the sound of raindrops making their wonderful sound on my skylights. Yesterday, I had hoped that the smell and the stillness in the area were good indicators that rain was coming. I had been fooled in the past.

As a child growing up in South Carolina, we always knew when rain was coming. The wind would whip into a strong breeze and the air would get pregnant and heavy with humidity, a sure sign that a storm was brewing. Thunder would make its roaring sound in the distance and lightning would peal between the heavy grey clouds.Then the storm would pass over bringing with it the needed moisture and much cooler air. Running through puddles of cool water  and looking for baby frogs was a big pass time for us youngsters.

Not so here. The blistering days here don’t give the same signs as we knew in a state with a heavier rain fall and higher humidity. Storms, if they occur, come up quickly and move rapidly through the area sometimes dumping an inch in fifteen minutes. Then it may be weeks before another shower. But there’s one thing for sure, most of the time, you can smell the air and detect the approach of a thunderstorm. You know when you’re going to get wet. And if you don’t have that nose yet, you can follow the storm trackers on the local TV stations who interrupt programs every five minutes and let you know when to take cover.

Many of us wondered if our area was turning into a desert. Our vegetable gardens, many trees and shrubs are dead and  just haven't tolerated the heat and drought.  With temperatures over 100 degrees and  no rain since the first week in June the area's soil had hardened and was dried and cracked.

 But last night, the sky remembered and shed its healing tears and we rejoiced in the fact that we didn’t have to water everything today.

It was a rainy night in Texas.

And we give that a big thumbs up!