The skies outside are so gray these days. This has been an exceptionally rainy spring, almost a “no man’s season” that isn’t winter but isn’t quite spring either. Spring, I’m just not feelin’ it. Usually, in the spring, I keep jars and vases and bottles of fresh wildflowers in the house. It’s been so rainy, so muddy, so heavy and dreary, that I’ve brought nothing in. Nothing! I can hardly stand to walk outside more that absolutely necessary due to the swamp that has taken over our farm. Rain, rain, go away. I took a walk outside, between cloudbursts, in search of this lost season. I found that whilst I was bemoaning the constant rain, the early spring wildflowers have come and gone, in many cases leaving nothing but the dried heads.
And then I also found, once I walked far enough away to get out of the trampling of mud so muddying my perspective, that the lushness of it all was almost surreal.
Wet, green, fresh, alive. From the feet of snow all winter to the relentless rains of spring, this is a place of water. It reminded me of a line very early in the Barbara Kingsolver book, Animal, Vegetable, Miracle, in which she describes her family’s decision to move to Virginia this way, “We wanted to live in a place that could feed us: where rain falls, crops grow, and drinking water bubbles right up out of the ground.” She could just as well have been writing of West Virginia, too. Here be water.
This is the area I want to fence in for another pasture for BP and the bucks.
Springs are everywhere on the hillside that backs up our farm. Water runs, clear and cool, year-round.
The grass grows. The trees tower, offering shade and protection.
It’s the snows of winter and the rains of spring that feed the natural resources that make life on a farm in a place like this so much more sustainable. No matter how dry a summer I’ve seen here, the springs run. Our well has never been dry. We are surrounded by a paradise of water that comes down from the sky and back up out of the ground.
I stood in the green, wet woods with my lost season–where it had been all along, not just under my muddy boots but in the dewy air and the soaring trees, the running springs and the bursting grass. Butterflies danced before me as I walked. Birds hid in the trees and sang. I could hear the distant sound of my goats, bleating, my ducks, quacking.
A little thunder rumbled in the distance. I gathered a few flowers and grasses to take inside to fill those empty jars and vases and bottles.
It’s raining, and it’s okay.
Granny Trace says:
:duck: The rain is making everything so beautiful and green.
However I had my tractor really stuck in mud yesterday!!
Hugs Granny Trace
http://www.grannytracescrapsandsquares.com
On May 25, 2011 at 6:02 am
DB says:
Great post! Reminds me of a quote (can’t remember the exact wording) about how we appreciate the sun because of the rain….? Can’t have a rainbow without rain!
On May 25, 2011 at 6:28 am
Glenda says:
It is beautiful country….almost as beautiful as the Ozarks!
We just need to get out in it more often.
That will make a great pasture for BP!
On May 25, 2011 at 6:31 am
Gem says:
Pure “Farmer” poetry.
On May 25, 2011 at 6:50 am
Teri says:
So pretty and green – enjoy! We are so very dry out here in central west Texas.
On May 25, 2011 at 7:09 am
debrablittle says:
The bounty of God’s goodness and creation in all its glory. What could be better?
On May 25, 2011 at 10:16 am
Flowerpower says:
:happyflower: I expect this year we have had more snow and more rain than I can ever remember.Flowers are starting to bloom and the grass is lush and green. I could however, do without the storms we have been having although nothing in comparison to Tuscaloosa, Joplin and more. God bless those poor people. :heart:
On May 25, 2011 at 10:27 am
twiggityNDgoats says:
Very well said! Thank you for reminding me of the wonders and bounty of this wonderful area even if it is sometimes overwhelmed by mud. As a hydrogeologist, I can relate to all that water bubbling out of the ground too!
On May 25, 2011 at 11:16 am
Ms.Becky says:
it’s raining here too. lots of it. been that way for most of the spring, plus cooler than normal temps. your photos are lovely as usual Suzanne. thanks for helping me appreciate all that I have rather than missing what I don’t. you’re the best. :hug:
On May 25, 2011 at 12:15 pm
Window On The Prairie says:
Sometimes all it takes is a walk in the woods to make everything better. A great blood pressure lowering tactic. Isn’t nature grand?
On May 25, 2011 at 1:57 pm
Aggiemom says:
:happybutterfly: I love this post Suzanne. Your beautiful photographs helped to take me from my 100 degree, hot, humid air, DRY ground, south central Texas yard to a green, lush hillside with precious water all around. As a Navy wife, I have lived in some beautiful places and it’s been an adjustment to live with drought like we have had this year. I’m trying to do what you did and find the “rainbow” in this weather. Sometimes it’s kinda hard. It helps to have pictures of your “neck of the woods” to take a mental vacation to. Thank you so much for the photos.
PS It was too dry for the bluebonnets this year. You know what that does to a Texas girl 😀
On May 25, 2011 at 2:27 pm
Glenie says:
Glad you have plenty of rain. Hopefully your garden will appreciate it. Here in south Alabama /north west Florida we are sadly lacking rain. But are blessed to not have tornados that have been accompanying rain slightly north of us.
On May 25, 2011 at 4:00 pm
mrsdmahogany says:
Since Sunday evening, we here on the Canadian prairies have had frost warnings!! My poor little seedlings which I have transplanted into the ground have been covered with sheets and pillowcases since Sunday! Maybe, just maybe we will get a proper spring yet. Before it snows again…..
Dianna
On May 25, 2011 at 4:09 pm
yvonnem says:
I definitely know what you mean about the swamp taking over. The green is really so lush and beautiful though. I commented to my husband the other day, a rare sunny day, how beautiful and green everything looked…as the sun reflected off several pools of standing water in our front yard! I’m ready for a lonoooong dry spell, not a drought, but please just let the ground dry up some.
Lovely pics as always! :sun:
On May 25, 2011 at 4:56 pm
Linda Goble says:
I am so tired of rain here in New York. I might get my garden planted some year. We have a spring that provides us with our water to the house an we been here for 30 years. We have a over flow to a tank in the ground and that over flow leads into my garden pond an then back out into the big pond. When water stops running into the garden pond then we take a easy on the water. I know our wild apple tree was just loaded this year with blossoms for like one day and then all the rain beat them off. It was so sad. Love your pics. of all the green green green.Looks like BP an the bucks will lots of good eating there. :sun:
On May 25, 2011 at 10:49 pm
Chic says:
I think you got our rain this spring Suzanne. In our part of Kansas we’ve been in a drought since winter…until recently that is. Now we’ve had storms and tornado warnings and rain the last few days. This has been a very chilly strange spring all over except in England where my sister is enjoying our beautiful warm weather. I think you got their rain! Anyway…I hope you get some sunshine soon…I just need it to dry up for a few days so we can finish painting the house! Have a wonderful Thursday…
Maura 🙂
On May 25, 2011 at 11:14 pm
Puma45 says:
I live in a little suburb very near an interstate and major shopping area, yet, today there was a snake in the street when I was walking my dog. So, when I saw all that green lushness, all I could think was, “God, I hope she’s watching for snakes!”
On May 25, 2011 at 11:18 pm
lizlo says:
Thank you for reminding me why I moved to Florida 8 years ago! But reading your post I long for spring and the prep of my garden. I remember how wonderful spring was up north. It was heart warming when my perennials would surface from their winter slumber and rear their heads thru the dark rich soil. Here in Florida we do have a spring but you have to look hard for it. Enjoy your spring even if it’s wet! I sure do miss it, but not the rain :).
On May 26, 2011 at 9:21 pm
perry says:
This was a wonderful post! I could feel your joy and the pictures were really really good. Thank you!
On May 27, 2011 at 12:44 am
Runningtrails says:
Same here! Lots and lots of rain! But spring came anyway and everything is growing by leaps and bounds!
On May 27, 2011 at 6:45 pm