Nasty, Nasty Weather

Many areas of the country have snowfall right about now, but not here in Texas.  Here we have rain.  Normally I love rain, but in Texas, rain just makes for an icky mess that no one wants to deal with.  Either it's so light it's barely worth calling rain, or it's so heavy that everything floods.

I can't complain too much.  Texas has had a severe lack of rain over the past couple of years.  The first year I was here we got so much rain in May and June that the lakes were overflowing and the dams had water flowing through at such a high rate that it felt like you'd be swept away just by standing near it.  I thought this was normal for Texas, but that's not normal at all.  Apparently I've never seen a normal year in Texas.  Every year since has been dryer than normal, as though the environment around here is trying to make up for giving too much in 2007.

As a result, water prices have skyrocketed.  Everything looks dead and dry earlier in the year than it usually does.  The lakes and ponds are smaller than they used to be.  All of the river beds and run off areas have been bone dry for quite some time.  Many worried that with each continual year things would just get worse and worse.  It's been getting to the point where conserving water isn't just something good for the environment, it's necessary, unless you intend to be paying a small fortune on your water bill.  Even my very conservative family was paying about $100 per month in water over the last summer, a huge step up from when that winter where we were spending half that much or less.

Unfortunately, as much as Texas needs it, the state really isn't set up for rain.  The ground is so dry and clay-like that the water pools on the surface.  Roads flood all over the county and cars hydroplane more than I've ever seen.  A friend of mine called me in a frantic fit of desperation asking if she could put some stuff in our fridge because the water was running down her street like rapids and they had the road closed off.  She was terrified that her house had been flooded as the water hit the bottom of her street, but thankfully, when the rain cleared, it turned out the water just rushed past her home.  I can't blame her for being concerned.  Her possessions weren't the problem.  She was more worried about her dogs that were kenneled in her absence.

So in light of all of that, I can't really complain about the rain.  It was necessary, even if it woke everyone up in the middle of the night.  It's what we really need for the health of the world around us, so hopefully the fire bans will be lifted and stay lifted.  We need this rain so it will be available when people need it over the spring and summer.

I'm sure the kids and I can find something to do on this rainy day when no one feels motivation to do anything.  This miserable weather isn't enough to keep us down, but even the kids are suggesting we relocate to somewhere with a more normal season pattern.  They want somewhere with snow.  At least then they could go out and play in it.