I know last time it rained things were just a little bit disappointing. I mean, five drops? I'm not sure if that was better or worse than no rain at all.
A few days ago - too busy to notice it then - much less write about it - there was most of a day and some of the night full of light but steady-ish rain. I'd been busy with computer issues, and wasn't really paying attention except to be grateful I had an excuse to avoid outside chores after the last batch left my unused muscles sore, and concentrate on the computer. Then of course there was a modest family party to plan and prepare for, kind of a conglomeration of birthdays plus celebrating the new porch/stairs combo being finished.
Was it really only Wednesday that the rolling garbage bin had to be brought back from the street after weekly emptying and tucked discretely out of sight again? I finally had cooperative weather to move it out and back long enough to stay dry myself for both moves. It was my final return to the house after all that was finished that I noticed the blob of red in the garden. With no flowers currently blooming, it stands out, even if the forecast freeze hadn't materialized. It's where the rain gauge sits, poked into the ground next to the border, mostly free of all foliage.
It's one of those with a wide top and a narrower tube, so amounts are exaggerated to the eye but marks give the actual amount. Each inch of rain fills about four inches of tube. The tube can be lifted out of its holder to drain and easily replaced. Altogether it's so much easier to use, read, and empty than a plain tube. There is another piece of floating plastic in the tube, rising and lowering depending on how much water is sits on, also red for easy viewing from the house without having to head outside in the rain unless one chooses, generally done after rain ends. If it's more than five inches, the tube is too full to be accurate. Not that it happens around here, but hey, just gotta explain. Whenever possible I buy those for wherever home is, even Phoenix. It does occasionally rain there too.
This time it actually registered an inch on the gauge. Real rain! After so many disappointments all summer, and despite heading out and back in several times refilling the garbage and recycling bins, or in and out of the car running errands, I left that little proof of moisture actually arriving this time sitting in the bottom of that tube.We had a whole inch of rain!
I suppose next time some is forecast, I'll actually have to go out and empty the tube first. I'll want to know how much the forecasters are lying about rain totals next time! For now I'm just enjoying it.
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