Rain in August


The most amazing thing happend this morning. We had just finished breakfast, when we looked outside and saw a very fine drizzle come down. I opened the door immediately, the smell was intoxicating.

After a short while, the drizzle stopped. But a half hour later, we heard drops of rain on the skylights, and soon after, the toc-toc-toc of water coming down the rain gutters.


Another half hour later, it was all over. But still, you could see water on the ground!


I'm not sure how rare rain in August is, but it's pretty rare. I believe we had rain in August the last time 12 years ago. We laugh at guests who bring a raincoat or umrella for a summer visit.

But there it was! So I grabbed the camera and went outside for a bit.

Some of the plants usually can't be photographed with real rain. The Camelia blooms in July; today I could catch the last blossom with drops of rain. The first batch of poppies, large, bright orange, green leaves, often gets spring rain. But this second (or third?) batch has gray leaves and much smaller flowers. I just loved the rain on the petals! The sedum might get hosed down once or twice in its life, but it rarely sees rain as the buds are coming out.


I'd almost killed the Albutilon, not enough water and diseases carried by ants, so I was especially happy to see the raindrops on the large, green leaves.


The redwood sorrel had also seen more sun than it likes, and the gift from above was very welcome.


The leaves of the pitcher sage are a bit fuzzy and sticky; the rain looks so different on a plant like that.

Of course, the surprise from the skies was over very quickly, it probably did not even count as measurable percipitation. But all the plants have measured it, I'm sure, and I myself felt happy just remembering the drops on the flowers and the smell of the rain for the rest of the day.

Comments

Gail said…
How wonderful a description you've given! I can imagine the intoxicating fragrance. It's hard to imagine that some plants never get photographed with real rain~~but I agree, the plants can measure it! gail
Laura Livengood said…
Last Thursday was indeed magic; I had my camera out after the rain also! I cannot remember rain in August either, and had much the same reaction that you did; sat on the porch and watched the rain chain and enjoyed seeing everything get a rinse. Thanks for recording this historic event so nicely! lls
Yes, Thursday was so strange. We were driving north through the Central Valley, and I swore I saw wet pavement as we approached the Bay Area--probably the same system that brought you rain. I usually hate that drive in the summer, but this August day the cold front dropped the temperature down to 82 degrees at the highest. 82 in the Central Valley in August. I've never heard of such a thing!