rainy days and mondays....

There is a saying in Atlanta that if you don't like the weather, wait five minutes because it will change. The exception to that is the summer.... and Atlanta summers usually start in June. We can easily go for many weeks with temperatures in the high 80's and 90's, with no rain to wash off the heat, or grace the flowers with a nice shower of water. As I gaze out the window this Monday night, I've been hoping for a nice belly-gusher to salvage the remnants of my once green grass. It seems that this, once again, was only a rumor.... rain seems to be in the forecast, but the overcast sky is not relinquishing any clemency.

Once again, I will have to play the "rotating the sprinkler" game with the lawn after 8PM, in hopes that the grass will respond to the little I can do for it in these hot times, without running my water bill up to exceed the national debt. City water is not cheap, my bill can run anywhere over $100.00 to $140.00 a month. Even the critters are sputtering and coughing in the yard in hopes of finding a free drop somewhere. No matter how much I fill up the bird baths (everyday), they are empty by the next night. It wouldn't be so bad if we could just water our lawns, but the state is under a water restriction siege. My county has taken the restriction further than the rest of the state by declaring that we can water freely between the hours of 8PM and 5AM, rotating every other day.... and no watering AT ALL on Fridays. If caught, you proceed into a series of fine schedules. The first offense is a warning. The second, a monetary fine you must pay to the city; and the third, your water is turned off at the street so that nothing gets into your home.

For a gardener, this is a nightmare... but I am fortunate that the neighbors are understanding. So far, no one has turned me in to the water company when I sneak around behind the bushes to water the beds that are filled with sagging and gasping flowers. Even the bushes are beginning to wane from their former glory, and the hydrangea bush I usually hide behind, managed to grab my arm the other day to beg for anything I could spare. Oh the pain I felt when I saw her long leaf arms sprouting big blue flowers laying flat to the ground in the dust. The once former grass that surrounded the bush was now nothing but Georgia red clay and pock marks, where squirrels and chipmunks had dug for any acorns that might have fallen off the giant oak tree in my backyard. What's truly sad is that the neighbors hydrangea bushes have net-worked with my own, and tugged further at my weak heart. There is no way I can bypass this beautiful purple flowered queen without leaving her a nice long drink of water.

So if you are experiencing an over-abundance of rain... feel free to wish it over to my little corner of the Earth for a day or two.... we could really use it here!