If the old adage about April showers bringing May flowers is true, I'm at the point where I'm believing that our ENTIRE state will be a wonderful world of colorful blossoms. We've had so much rain in the past few weeks, that our lake level has returned to normal after two years of extreme drought.
Mind you, I am not complaining! We did need all this rain to fill our reservoirs and to reduce the thirst the earth has known for too long. My plants are healthier due to the natural water fall, and it certainly means great reduction in our monthly water bill. No, I'm not complaining at all.
We have guests coming this weekend, and after all this rain, our Connecticut friends will be introduced to our red clay mud, which is similar, in my opinion, to walking into a deep area of drying cement. The mud takes your foot and sucks hard, so that when you attempt to pull your foot up, it's comes out with difficulty, and usually without a shoe. Oh, and that brings up the subject of that your shoe will look like for all eternity after a stroll in our mud. It will forever be that lovely shade of rusty red, no matter what the color started out to be. And, you can consider that the pair of shoes will now be repurposed to gardening wear.
Sometimes April brings more than showers, as it has this year. It's brought a barrage of severe thunderstorms. Even at this time of writing, thunder is rumbling and booming all around us. The rain is falling hard over our heads, but the noise is coming across the miles from our southeast. That area is often the victim of our most severe weather. However, on the evening of Good Friday, while my neighbor and I were attending a terrific passion play at a church in a nearby
community, six tornados touched down around the state, one only fifteen or sixteen miles from our house. Fortunately, the twister did little damage as it was only a category one. Since I'm not a huge fan of tornados, the thought of one of any magnitude at all being that close to home is frightening. Often I tell myself, "there hasn't been a tornado here in thirty years, you're quite safe." Now Mother Nature has changed that, just to let me know that she's still around. Ok, lady...I believe you're here. Now, how about going elsewhere to prove yourself? At other times, when we hear of severe storms expected, I am perfectly calm, thinking that there's really not ONE thing I can do to prevent it. Then I plan where we can hide in our house (the 1/2 bath is our best bet) should we get a tornado warning, as was the case on Friday night. At those times, my biggest fear is how to get my mother to safety here, or if there would even be time to do that.
The truth of the matter is that April brings its weather, and no matter what it is she brings: sun, showers, or storms, we are at the mercy of God in it all, as we are in all things every day. There is really nothing we can do but be prepared and pray fervently, while hoping for the best.
