Sunday, June 5, 2011

Water, water, everywhere...

© 2011 Joshua Stark

I sit in my kitchen on this cold and blustery June day here in the wilds of the Sacramento metropolitan area.  Last week, the mountain passes over the Sierra Nevada were closed due to white-out conditions, and the snow level dropped to 4,000 ft.  Thankfully, this last storm only saw snow to 8,000 feet, so maybe we are making progress?

Regardless, we get dry days on the days I work, or the days I've spent at home caring for family (a bad flu, oddly enough striking only the females, blew through here last week).  Then, when it looks like I might get a day off to fish or (gasp!) to garden, here comes another storm.  Nor are these storms only in the sense of a person unaccustomed to them:  Last week, we found ourselves, for the first time, in a 'tornado watch' zone, as the tail-end of a system took on that familiar and ominous J-hook over our house.  Luckily, nothing formed, but still, it was June 1st. 

We typically get around 19 inches of rain in Sacramento, and also typically, it all falls between late October and early May, and this is no exaggeration.  But here we are, stuck indoors on a Sunday in June, expecting another downpour, soon, as well as thunderstorms tomorrow. 

I should get out and at least get 'caught up':  Empty the duck pond, dump any standing water, clean up the walnuts (now being dropped by squirrels).  I should even put in the newest attempt at duck-proofing the raised beds (a huge bamboo trellis).  But, I must admit I'm pretty beat down by this weather, and the continual catch-up I have to do, making no real progress, is dampening my spirits more than the rains.

How do I get out of these doldrums?

No comments: