Blessed Rain

For some reason, Oregon has the reputation of being very rainy. Maybe this is true in Portland but not so here in Southern Oregon.  From May to October yearly we have days and days of sunny skies and dry weather.  Several weeks ago we had lightning storms in the Rogue Valley without rain which set off large wildfires in our area.  Over 30,000 acres have burned giving us smoke, haze, poor air quality and very little sunlight on some days.  I have on my computer pictures of my property in spring as screen savers to serve as reminders that rain will come and fires will go away.

   
Yesterday evening we got rain!  We got a lot of smoke in our area as the storms move in before we got rain, but we got "falling from the sky" water.  I never thought I would be so happy to see my deck wet.  We also got thunder and lightning with a lightning strike very close to my house.  Just before dusk one of the fire helicopters flew over my house, surely looking for any fires started by the lightning.  I woke this morning to blue sky and clouds.  We have more prediction of showers for the next three days.  A little smoke has moved back in but there is a promise that the rain will help with local fire fighting. 

Oregon is a beautiful place to live, but as anywhere, nature presents challenges.  For us in Southern Oregon, summer is the season of wildfire.  I moved to Oregon from the Outer Banks of North Carolina.  There I lived with hurricanes.  There is no prefect place to live just places we humans call "home".

On another note, all of the lights are working in the studio.  Work continues.  Move in time gets closer.

Two weeks ago



Last Friday
 

The deck is on, the lights work and the floor is ready to be installed.  My husband has done a wonderful job.  He should be very proud of his creation.