June 15th, 2021

Over the week or so that I stepped away from the blog, we took a lot of walks.  No big surprise there. And most of them were very pretty. Of course they were, this is very pretty place.

​Some of the walks were at the end of the day when it was a wee bit cooler.  Generally we strolled on over to the beach along about sunset:

And on the weekends, we found our way to various parks and preserves. Before you ask, yes it's hot out.  Of course it is. It's summer in Florida. We are accustomed to that.  But it's been much drier than usual.  Y'see, technically the rainy season began in May.  And I'd say the rain is about 4 weeks late at this point.  Oh it's raining in Florida.  I hear from various friends who live in other parts of the state that they are getting at least a little bit of rain once a day, just like what usually happens. It's just not happening here.  Somehow, nearly every day,  the predicted rain is taking a detour around us which is so very strange.

Oh we've had a few light showers. And one really good drench that lasted for about an hour.

But it's not enough. The rainy season has to be enough rain to sustain the growing things for an entire year. As it is right this minute however, since the rain keeps bypassing us, our greens are looking a little brown. And that's so sad.

Our walks were still enjoyable of course.  And at a quick glance, there is still alot of green in the preserves. The older, more established trees are still hanging in there and the things that grow underneath them, in the shade that they provide, are still green.  But elsewhere, we saw a lot of dead and dying plants and grasses, no wild flowers at all (that were still alive at least) and wilting, parched, drooping green things.  And because of that there were no bees, no butterflies, no dragonflies.......   Oh I got pictures. Of course I got pictures.   I like pictures that tell a story, and this definitely tells a story. Just not a happy one.

So I was very happy to also walk in a few other places that clearly have had some rain so I could tell a different sort of story, a happier one, a prettier one:

I'm sure our rain is coming. And with it more humidity because that's how it works.  I admit that humidity isn't my favourite thing but right now, rain will be very welcome.   Our rainy season means exactly that. Rain, at some point, almost every day.  Sometimes rain all day long, sometimes just a quick passing shower, but rain nonetheless.  And our browns will turn green again, the flowers will bloom again and the bees and butterflies and dragonflies will return.

​But until then I will be doing daily rain dances and singing little rain songs. And then once the rain, at long last, arrives, I will complain about all the rain and things will, once again, be normal :)