Tuesday, July 2, 2013

Rain Forest


Harper's Run in the county park downstream
It's official: June 2013 was the wettest June on record here.  We ended the month with 0.5 inches more rain than the second-wettest June.  And, we're 2.5 inches above normal for the year so far.  Except for last Friday (June 28), it has rained part or all of every single day here for the last two weeks, and in between storms the air's has been so humid it's nearly visible.  As you might imagine, everything is sodden, soggy, dripping...you get the point.  If I were through-hiking the Appalachian Trail this year, I'd probably give up.

I decided to venture down to my garden last evening; I really hadn't visited since I planted my tomatoes on Mother's Day--they usually can take care of themselves, the mosquitoes have been ferocious, and the humidity means I start to drip as soon as I open the garden gate.  Thankfully, the weeds weren't as dense as I thought they might be.  However, my plum-shaped Roma tomato plants are all dying, even as they are loaded with tomatoes.  I'm sure it's because of the incredible and relentless humidity.  So far, the Big Boy hybrids still look alright, but they don't produce good tomato sauce like the Romas do.

Sunday morning, before the rain started and it got too warm, Kali and I walked three miles in the county park along "my" creek downstream of "my" preserve.  The trails there are drier than the trails at my preserve, so we walk at the county park when it's too wet here.  We'd planned on four miles, but thunder warned us to shorten our hike, and we got back to the car just before the rain started and washed out the afternoon.  

Kali on the footbridge over Harper's Run

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To my followers, I apologize for not posting much lately.  I have been very ill for the last two weeks and am slowly recovering, which limited my time outdoors.  (Of course, the lousy weather didn't help, either.)  Upcoming, Kali and I will be traveling to Colorado and California for 10 days, so I won't be posting again until mid-July.  I look forward to communicating with you again then!

9 comments:

Anonymous said...

You have had quite a lot of rain there. To balance out the wackiness of the weather systems, we've had a relentless heatwave. I'm a little taken aback by the extremes lately. I had been hoping that climate change would be gradual.

Hope you and Kali have a wonderful journey.

Carolyn H said...

I'm glad to hear you are feeling better. Have a great trip!

Scott said...

Robin Andrea: I hope the weather's not too hot when we get to San Diego. Despite the fact that San Diego is supposed to have the "perfect climate" (why else is it so overbuilt?) it seems like my brother-in-law apologizes for how hot it is every time we visit. I'm afraid Kali and I may jinx California with more hot weather this coming week!

The newspaper said this morning that we received as much rain in June as we received in the five months preceding June! Yuck!

Scott said...

Thanks for the good wishes, Carolyn! My friend in Pittsburgh said it has not been nearly as soupy there as it has been here; maybe you've been on the drier side of the weather systems, too.

packrat said...

It's just not fair, Scott. You're getting all the rain that's so badly needed out here. The heatwave finally has broken in the Chihuahuan Desert, and we're getting a little precipitation. Where we are right now--in the Sacramento Mountains--we've gotten quite a bit of rain. It's wonderful!

Scott said...

I guess that the broken heatwave and the beginning of the rain might signal the monsoon. I certainly hope so. I know you're enjoying the cooler temperatures in the mountains.

Ercotravels said...

Interesting story which present minute details. Nice post.

Mark P said...

I found my way here from your comment at newdharma bums. I was interested to see that you plan to retire to Colorado. My wife and I are planning to leave our long-time home in NW Georgia after I retire (which will be soon, I hope. It was supposed to happen in May). I would like to escape the high humidity. I like Colorado and New Mexico, and have friends out there, but I doubt that we'll end up going there. It will probably just be another high-humidity place east of the Mississippi. Anyway, I hope you let everyone know how it goes, when it goes.

Scott said...

Mark: Kali and I have lived east of the Mississippi all of our lives (i.e., Ohio, Pennsylvania, Florida), but we almost always vacationed west of the Mississippi. It was always our intention to retire in the West, though we couldn't decide upon where. With low interest rates and homes at rock-bottom prices, we got serious last summer and checked out quite a few places in Colorado and Kali fell in love with the house we're buying northwest of Fort Collins--so that made it "easy" to make a decision.