Rain, Blessed Rain

We desperately need rain here in South Texas and while I was away at preteen camp we got some. Boy did it downpour a couple of times while I was there! But does it look like the rain that halted the planned activities dampened the spirits of my preteens??? I didn't think so either.

Rainy Days

It rained most afternoons last week, although I slept through many of the showers. We are in much need of rain in South Texas so these showers have been a wonderful blessing. Summer showers still bring out in me a desire to just go outside and play in the rain. Last week when I snapped these photos however, I did not feel well enough to do that. But I sure did enjoy watching it come down and liked listening to the sound of it pound on the tin roof of the back deck.

Rain was even more scarce during the years I lived in Arizona. My room mate and I were both from Missouri and we could both always tell when it was going to rain, long before the thunderheads moved across the sky. We always said "it smells like Missouri. It's going to rain." And it did, every time. Dar and I both loved the rain and during monsoons we would sometimes be found outside enjoying the rare showers there. If it was raining, we were often out walking in it.

Marty and I were caught out in a rain storm a couple of summers ago while out on the motorcycle. Until the lightning, and until the rain became rather cold, it was even fun riding in the rain. At first the rain was still warm falling on us lightly and I enjoyed my first rainstorm on the bike, but not for long. :0)

When we lived in Missouri, a favorite campsite was on the banks of Norfork Lake near Mountain Home, Arkansas. One camping trip found us in the middle of a rain shower, but no storm. We decided since it wasn't storming not to pack up our gear and even went swimming in the rain. We weren't alone as several other families were also swimming in the rain.

Watching the rain come down is a perfect opportunity to sit and reflect and remember.

After the rain...

I'm sure there are many in my town in agreement with me when I say I'm really tired of the rain we've had. But, I've never seen everything so green so late in summer. And there are still some flowers in bloom. And we've had some amazing skies as well. Today consisted of a few scattered showers. It rained hard at my house during lunch, but didn't rain at all 3 miles up the road at work. And the clouds in the sky this evening were just awesome. Well, take a look. These were all taken from within a moving car, mostly at 60 mph!!!

Driving over the Guadalupe River bridge.

Now, these were taken standing near the Wal Mart parking lot:

We're a Bit Soggy....

We've had an unusually wet spring and summer here. Yesterday it poured most of the day, creating flooding in many areas. The highway to the church where I work became impassable until the rain let up enough the water could recede. By the time I left work and drove around to see what everything looked like, it was passable again. The closest bridge over the river is still flooded today, but many of the low water crossings are open. Our pastor lives on the river and he and his wife are on vacation. As soon as was possible several friends headed there to see if anything needed to be moved to higher ground. I didn't arrive soon enough to snap any pictures of the three men who waded out to raise the boat higher, which is probably a good thing since one of them was my husband and I generally don't like to watch him and his "daredevil" antics.

Here's the scene from the landing on the stairs to the house:

The boat dock and boat house are completely surrounded by water:

Someone else's boat is floating down the river:

The boat dock is beneat the surface of the water just beyond the hammock:

Another picture of the boat heading down the river:

Riley and Terryn watching the debris float by:

Dean "fishing" in the yard:

Jason and Cameron were clowning around and fell and I was laughing so hard I forgot to snap a picture of them on the ground! I was sure glad Jason wasn't riding home in my car like this!!!

Scene of the boat house from the landing on the stairs:

This is a usually slow-moving creek behind the Memorial Rose Garden downtown:

Later addition:

Erica sent me these photos taken with her phone of the guys in the water. Thanks, E!