Tonight the sky clouded over and we heard a hint of thunder in the distance.
We are experiencing the worst drought our area has seen in fifty years; another five days without rain, and it will be the worst in a century.
Our children can't play on the lawn anymore, because it is parched and prickly. The places where we usually loll and picnic and dream have become inhospitably and perhaps irretrievably dry.
I've created a sign for our washroom, reminding them to only flush when it's absolutely necessary, and tomorrow I'll be cleaning out their closets so that they can only go through one or two outfits a day; I hope to reduce the amount of laundry I do by limiting their wardrobes.
Tonight, four of us got clean after camping in 5 inches of bathwater. I always think, "Ew!" when I read about pioneer families doing that, but I get it now. We can't risk our well going dry, and can't afford the luxury of full, deep tubs of clean water for each of the five members of our family. One bath a week for the kids (they go to swimming lessons daily in a local lake, so will stay clean that way), and as few as the parents can manage is the plan for now. Our dishwasher kicked the bucket a few months ago, so we've already reduced our water consumption by washing the dishes by hand, but tomorrow I'll limit the kids to one cup each, to be reused throughout the day.
Our pond (which is usually full till late summer) is almost completely dry. The deciduous trees in the bush surrounding our property have shrivelled to nothing, and our apple trees are beginning to turn yellow.
This evening, after the kids were bathed, we went outside to wait for the storm, watching the skies with hope for our well, and for our friends who farm locally and are going to incredible lengths to help their crops survive this drought.
It still hasn't come and I think, perhaps, the rain has passed us by again.
Whether you live nearby or far away, please send a prayer our way.
Done with love and hopes for some moisture for many parts of our world. It amazes me that there are climate change deniers still spouting their "truths" in the face of such blatant evidence.
ReplyDeleteHere's wishing I could send some of our recent rains your way.
ReplyDeleteI can relate- don't know which part of the country you are, but here in Indiana we are experiencing the same scary drought. It reminds me time and again of the Grapes of Wrath (by John Steinbeck). I have been afraid from the beginning that our well will run dry, but my husband is an eternal optimist and is still not willing to conserve water (more than we already did). Several trees are looking very poorly, and the grass looks like yours. We do water our vegetable patch. I hope (and pray) for your family, mine, and all the others out there, that this will not get worse.
ReplyDeleteWe're in the heart of luscious farm country in Ontario, Canada...first time I've ever seen anything like this. Has made me reflect A LOT on the resource we often take for granted in this land of rivers and lakes. We always just assume our well can support our needs because it always has.
DeleteWe're in the heart of luscious farm country in Ontario, Canada...first time I've ever seen anything like this. Has made me reflect A LOT on the resource we often take for granted in this land of rivers and lakes. We always just assume our well can support our needs because it always has.
DeleteWe were hoping for the same.......seems as though the few droplets that did fall was still more than where you are but nonetheless, we're facing the same fears about our well, our crops, and friends with many acres that are planted. We haven't had a real rain in a little over a month! Here's to many rain dances and wishes for wells with plenty of water to see us through xoxo
ReplyDeletePrayers I can send!!! I hope the rains come!
ReplyDeleteI'm in GA and we are having rain storms here each night so strange for us. I'm praying our rains will head your way very soon. Much love to ya'll.
ReplyDeleteWe're in the same boat here in Iowa. We're all turning our thoughts and prayers to rain right now.
ReplyDeleteI was born in a drought and spent my toddlers years covered in dust as my parents worked the property,eating sheep pebbles and so one,theres very few years I can remember that water was plentiful that by the time my own children were born I too was doing what you are doing now,hang in and rain will come!
ReplyDeleteThinking of you all, I really hope it rains soon!
ReplyDeletexo
Linda
Praying you get rain. We had drought and over 100 degree temperatures for ages. The first cutting of hay is already being fed to the cows, and we are hoping that with the rain we are finally getting now, that there will actually be a second cutting (didn't look like it would happen). Hope you get relief as well...
ReplyDeleteOh, I'm sending my thoughts. It's strange how different worlds can be, isn't it? We're having a very similar drought here in Southern Ontario, but it effects our life so little. I hear people complaining about how their lawns are brown, or how much water they need to use to keep their plants healthy, but otherwise there are no real consequences felt here. To hear you describe the drought for your family having to worry about the well, that's a whole new world. I'll send my thoughts and prayers to you and to all the farmers who are spending their summer worrying.
ReplyDeleteSending hope and prayers your way as well. I know how scary it was for us to go 3-4 weeks without rain when the temps were up in the 100s, but then we had a week of rain so the gardens are good and the streams, lakes, etc are replenished. I'm praying the same thing happens for you too!
ReplyDeleteWe had a few clouds roll by yesterday but still nothing more than a few rain drops on the ground which quickly evaporated. We've also started to prioritize our water in hopes of saving the well. The vegetables in the garden are now watered from water saved from inside the house (like from the small a/c unit we run in the kitchen to cool the whole farmhouse). We'll soon be relying on the well for the cattle's water as well as the sheep, plus more on cheese making days. Come on, rain!
ReplyDeleteWe are the same here, just down the highway a few hours from you. We had thunder yesterday afternoon, but only a passing shower, not nearly enough to do a thing. We heard this morning there might be some rain tomorrow afternoon..fingers crossed.
ReplyDeleteWe have not had any problems with our well yet, but are taking precautions, just in case.
Our farm is suffering terribly here as well. Our cattle, our house and our little rental house/granny house is all on the same well. We are trying to conserve water as well but the other day I looked out and saw our renter guy WASHING HIS TRUCK! I mean come on, I know he is an old man that lives alone and doesn't use much water, but still.. He could have at least washed it on the lawn to help out the grass. The house I clean at had their well go dry and they live right on the Ottawa river - now that was scary.
ReplyDeleteWe had the smallest of sprinkles yesterday; barely enough to wet the ground. I've heard there's a 70% chance for tomorrow, but I'm not holding my breath. Right now we're just watering our vegetables, so most our flowers have shriveled up (poor things). I wrote a blog post about this as well...makes me so angry to see people watering their lawns. The other day I almost stopped and knocked on someone's door...lol! Decided not to make a scene though...
ReplyDeletegreat post. thank you for bringing further awareness to the drought and water conservation. xo
ReplyDeleteWe are the same here in Colorado. Half of our state was on fire not too long ago. We did get 4 days of much needed rain, but then the burn areas were flooding. My garden was suffering too. Weeks of 95+ temps will do that, but the rain helped so much. I'm on city water for my lawn, which I've programed to run at midnight two days a week. My garden is on the well and some days I only get a trickle of that. So scary. Sending the rain gods your way!
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ReplyDeletewe must have rain in the next 6 days or our 65 acres of corn will be worthless. A huge financial blow for us. We also have 50 acres of beans which can take a few more weeks but are stunted and will not reach anywhere near there full potential now even with rain.We have a VERY good well( it was dug by my husbands great- great grandfather in 1885 and has never run dry) but have never had to invest in irrigation in this area of Ontario wedged between Georgian Bay and Lake Huron. We are also usually blessed with ample moisture.
ReplyDeleteSaying prayers to the great rain gods for us all. Water is a sacred thing. Maybe we just needed a reminder.
It saddens me to see the ground so dry. Praying for rain. We had torrential rains in Toronto on Sunday, but it had been days and days prior to that. It is so worrisome.
ReplyDeleteI do notice a difference between where you are and our place as we are in the wetlands so I think we started from a more moist position. I'm also hoping that because our well is new we aren't going to have to worry about running dry. That said the heat has beaten us, the kids don't want to be outside as it is just so hot and the ground is baked dry. While this was good for a quick hay harvest it means some of the veggies are struggling. We are watering as it is our food source for the coming months but we do a patch each night, rotating to give each some relief. I'm really hoping the rain comes soon, they say today we'll get storms. Fingers crossed xxxx
ReplyDeleteIt is not much better a little bit North of you. We watched as the rain clouds stayed near Ottawa today, but brought nothing to us just 30 km north. The gardens and forest are dead, except for our vegetables, which we water briefly daily but only because it is a food source and so for us worth the sacrifice of water. Thankfully, my boys are ok with being dirty :)
ReplyDeleteI hope Mother Nature brings us all a cool long drink soon!
Jennifer @ Dark Blue Dragon