Raining in the Mountains

Transylvania County averages more rain per year than any other county in NC.  In fact, parts of our county are designed as temperate rain forests.  We average nearly 80 inches of rain annually, even more in parts of the county.  We do have years of drought, but this year our rainfall is a bit above average.  For the past week we have had rain showers almost every afternoon.  They are scattered showers and come in bursts, leaving high humidity behind.  The rivers are up and the forests are lush with green.

"The best thing one can do when it's raining is to let it rain."

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

We have  a sunflower that blooms all year long.  Even in the rain.  It is a medallion made for us by one of our WI neighbors.  She is a periodontist and stained glass work is one of her hobbies.  She finds it relaxing and it helps maintain manual dexterity she needs for her occupation.  We find it beautiful and welcome especially on rainy days.

 The perpetually blooming flower

Wherever you are, I hope you are getting just the right amount of rain.  As the poet said, "let it rain."

Come Rain or Come Shine or Both

 

 

Generally speaking, I love the rain.  I love to sit on the screen porch and watch the rain.  I love to sit in the library and watch the rain.  I loved the rain when I was a kid, especially the summer rain at my grandpa's farm.  Sitting in the barn listening to rain on the tin roof.  The only time in my life when I didn't like rain was when I did home care visits in the inner city.  Trying to juggle equipment, arriving at the door dripping wet...no, rain is not a friend to home care nurses.

 

We have had so much rain lately that I really can't say I still enjoy it.  But yesterday around sunset brought a beautiful rainy sight.

 

(You will need to click on photographs to see the rain)

 

 The setting sun was shining through the rain in the yard.

 

 

 

 A change in camera settings almost obscures the rain.

 

 

 

Large drops falling straight down 

 

 

 

 We certainly didn't need more rain, but it was beautiful.

Longfellow said it best,
"The best thing one can do when it's raining is to let it rain."

End of April Showers

Seems I've written a lot about the weather recently.  Perhaps that is because April's weather has been very strange...rain, hail, ice, temperatures well above normal and well below normal.  We know that April showers bring May flowers but we really did not expect such a deluge on the last weekend in rainy April.

Fortunately my husband has finished spreading the new pine straw and fertilizing the plants.  So we did just what Henry Wadsworth Longfellow suggested, "The best thing one can do when it's raining is to let it rain."

And rain it did; more than four inches Saturday and Sunday.  Looking out the garage toward the driveway.

Lots of rain

On this side as well

Wet yard bird

Wet hummingbird feeders (and birds as well)

Did you think for one minute the rain would ruin our grilled dinner?

Not a chance.

This morning has dawned sunny and bright.  The pollen count is down and the rivers are full, overflowing in some areas.  We need a week of sunshine please.

Fridays Are Golden

Our weather has been very strange indeed.  We have had very mild temperatures but the sun has been hidden behind the clouds and rain.  Unusual to think it's cold and dreary only to go outdoors and find it's warm and dreary.

The girls do not like the rain and stay out only the necessary time to attend to body functions.  Fortunately we do have two play areas indoors.  We have a large den with heavy furniture as well as a screened porch we use when the weather is this mild.  So they do romp and play.

Mostly, however, they snooze.  And more often than not in the same bed.  And more often than not with Ellie serving as Lucy's pillow.

Please don't ask me to get up.

I'm really bored and tired of this rain.

I'll just look the other way.

Pro football and college basketball rule our house right now.  The Packers are still in the playoffs, and the TarHeels are really struggling.  (To be expected when 80% of your shot-makers went pro, but disheartening nonetheless.)  Thank goodness for books and downstreaming.  Although I wouldn't miss a Packer game for anything.

Many are getting the mid-winter doldrums and so our quote today comes from Goethe:

Sometimes our fate resembles fruit trees in winter.  Who would think that those branches would turn green again and blossom?  But we hope it; we know it.

HAVE A WONDERFUL WEEKEND, EVERY ONE OF YOU!!!

Showers in March

Forget about April showers.  We got plenty of March showers Saturday and Sunday.  Like most of western NC, our county got continuous rainfall all day Saturday and most of the day on Sunday.  Our rain guage measured 7.5 inches over a 48-hour period.

The French Broad River Basin is far above flood level and the fields near the river are completely underwater as are some of the roads.  We've been asking for rain, and we surely got our share of it.

While the trails are far too muddy to travel, there is one beautiful waterfall in our county that is accessible from the road.  Here is Looking Glass Falls, overflowing with much more water than usual.  The water spans the entire top of the falls, roaring as it crashed into the pool below.

It's a lovely sight to behold.  Today the fields remain flooded but most of the roads are clear.  The ground is soaked and the dog towels are in the wash.

Almost Ten Inches

Perhaps the most frequently asked question in Transylvania County the past few days has been, "How much rain did we get?"  I can speak only for our house...we got almost ten inches in a thirty-six-hour period.  That's a lot of rain.

Rain is quite unpredictable in the mountains.  Other areas of our community received six inches of rain.  The county had widespread flooding with several roads closed due to high water.  The French Broad Basin flooded fields and roads and isn't expected to crest until this evening.

The rain stopped during the night last night and today is sunny although quite chilly for our area.  On a clear day after a heavy rain, we always go visit waterfalls.  Because of the flooding and treacherous trails, we did not do any hiking.  Fortunately Looking Glass Falls is right off a highway overlook with no muddy trails to contend with.

There was lots of water, but we have actually seen the falls with greater volume.

The water crashes into the basin below.

A beautiful sight indeed.

All three photographs were taken by my husband.

The rain eliminated the deficit for the year and we are very happy the trees will get a good drink before winter.  But it was a lot of rain in a very short period of time.  Always complaining, aren't we?  We get rain and then complain because it wasn't spaced out to our satisfaction.

I've mentioned before that our dogs do not like the rain.  I will add that we do not like having to dry off two wet Golden Retrievers everytime they come inside.

Fridays are Golden

Our dogs seemed to enjoy the rain when we lived in Wisconsin. Perhaps it was the urban setting with our manicured lawn and huge maple trees that sheltered them from the heavy rain. Perhaps it was because they could run freely in the rain all over the large lawn, hiding under bushes and playing chase. Who knows? But for whatever reason the girls do NOT like the rain here. And rain we have had. Steady rain. More than four inches of rain. Rain falling all week long.

Lucy patrols the house to see if it is still raining.

Yep. It's falling on the deck.

Then she went to the dining room window to look out.

Funny, it's raining on this side of the house too.

Along with the rain, we had gusts of high wind. In fact, the wind blew one of the bird feeders off the deck. My husband retrieved it and was preparing to take it back outside. It provided a bit of diversion for Lucy.

I've never seen one of these close up. Interesting!

She watches as my husband hangs the bird feeder and checks the rain gauge.

He is crazy to go out there when he doesn't have to!

The girls stand on the front porch watching the rain.

Lucy is almost singing, "Rain, rain, go away."

Ellie looks out and then back at me.

Is it almost time for dinner?

Boredom sets in and Ellie decides to practice holding multiple tennis balls in her mouth. She can hold three at once, but rarely does so. Most of the time she is carrying two at a time.

See? There's plenty of room for another.

Go ahead with the silly tennis ball thing, Ellie. Just make sure to wake me up when it's dinnertime.

As we approach another weekend, let's continue to remember our men and women in uniform and make this a week of honoring. Reflect on what they are doing and how they are living. Watch the memorials of the very young men and women who are losing their lives every week. Our thoughts go out to their families and loved ones.

---------------Enjoy your weekend wherever you are. Don't forget your pledge last week! We are not going to let the upcoming holidays stress us this year. Holidays are for love and family and everything else is superficial.

HAVE A WONDERFUL AND SAFE WEEKEND. DO SOMETHING FOR SOMEONE ELSE AND AT LEAST ONE THING JUST FOR YOURSELF.

Land Where the Water Falls

With more than 250 named waterfalls, Transylvania County is called the "Land of the Waterfalls." With an average annual rainfall of 80 inches, it is jokingly called, "Land Where the water falls" by local residents. One section of our county is officially designated a temperate rain forest. In most years, our county receives more rain than any county east of the Rocky Mountains.

It has been more than 3 years since we approached a normal rainfall. A severe drought has reduced the amount of rain to a percentage of normal.

Last week several weather fronts dumped rain on us and parts of Georgia, Tennessee, and South Carolina. It poured and poured...more than 14 inches in six days. On Monday the rain slowed somewhat so my husband and I did what we always do after a heavy rain; we headed out to see a waterfall or two.

With raincoats and umbrellas we headed up to Pisgah National Forest to view two waterfalls that are easily accessible.


Looking Glass Falls is impressive. Here is a photograph of "normal" flow.

This is Looking Glass Falls on Monday afternoon. What a sight and sound! The roar of the falls was impressive. The water fell with such force that it splashed 20 feet in the air at the bottom of the falls.

The water poured over the top of the falls.

We couldn't walk closer to the falls because of the mist. We could protect the camera from the rain with our umbrellas, but there is no way to protect it from the mist.

Another easily accessible waterfall is a recreation area known as Sliding Rock. In summers it is filled with children and adults who slide down the smooth rocks to a pool below. It's a favorite destination for the summer campers.

Here a couple of girls slide down the rocks. This is taken at the top of the "slide." The amount of water flowing is somewhat less than normal because of the drought.

This is a photograph of the same area on Monday. Notice that the fence is partially underwater and none of the rocks are visible. What a change.

This shows most of the sliding area of Sliding Rock. People are lined up on the left waiting a turn in the icy cold water. Notice that the fence is away from the rushing water. Compare that to the previous photograph.

On Monday, the sliding area looked like this. I could not get down to the deck because of the spray. The pool at the bottom was no longer visible as it became part of the roaring river.

The sign indicates the area is closed. While we didn't see any swimmers, we did see a couple of young men debating whether they could kayak the area. They wisely decided they would not be able to make the curve at the bottom and would run into the deck. We have all sorts of signs saying the obvious. You wouldn't think you need to tell people not to get in the water at the top of a waterfall, or not to jump off a waterfall. But it is necessary and every year people ignore them and suffer death or severe injury.

I must admit I feel a bit guilty enjoying the splendor of the waterfalls while others are suffering from extensive flooding. Major roads were closed due to high water and people in some areas of the county had to evacuate. Homes were flooded and farmers lost crops. The remaining apples in Henderson County were knocked from the trees and the orchards are too soggy to harvest them.

----------------So think positive thoughts for those less fortunate while you enjoy the waterfalls. The rain stopped on Tuesday, although another front is expected to bring us more rain this evening. But the prediction is for light rain and scattered showers...nothing like the past week. The rivers will crest today so the worst should be over and the cleanup will begin. I'm certain the kind folks of Transylvania County will be generous is increasing donations to the less fortunate.

Miserable Sunday

I've mentioned that last week was rainy and foggy. The rain has continued (and is falling right now) and we have widespread flooding throughout our county and neighboring Henderson County and Jackson County. We have a rain gauge and recorded 11 inches of rain from Thursday thru Sunday afternoon. Four inches of that fell during the night on Saturday.

Here are some photographs from the Asheville Citizen Times showing some of the flooding problems in Transylvania County and Henderson County. We remain under a flash flood warning and many roads are closed due to high water. Several trees have fallen due to saturated roots and there are intermittent power outages all over.


The river banks lie just beyond the trees in the background. The rest of the water is a flooded pasture.

With most of this pasture under water, these animals take to the higher ground.

This street is under several feet of water.

The river has taken over this highway as well.

With the rain and fog, Sunday was a great day for football, wasn't it? NO, NOT IF YOU WANTED THE GREEN BAY PACKERS TO ACTUALLY PLAY THE GAME!!! Aaron Rodgers is a great quarterback but it's pretty hard to get the ball off when you are flat on your butt on the ground. Rodgers was sacked SIX times and knocked to the ground an additional FOUR times.

Photo from The Milwaukee Journal/Sentinel.

The receivers couldn't hold on to the ball even when Rodgers managed to get off a good pass. They were hit solidly on the numbers and dropped the ball at least FIVE times. FIVE CATCHABLE BALLS. With a few miracles, the Packers were within a touchdown/extra point with the ball and 45 seconds left. Still they managed to lose the game with mistakes and penalties. All in all, my Sunday was a pretty lousy one. Hope yours was better.

Fridays are Golden

This is how the weather has been all week long. Rain and fog and one hail storm. Few sightings of blue sky, much less of the sun. We are truly glad to see the rain, but being human, we would prefer that the rain fall at night and give us brighter days. We're just never satisfied, are we?






Our Golden Girls do not like the rain at all. They don't want to be outside in the rain. They don't like getting their coats wet. They don't like getting dried off. And they aren't that happy about hanging around the house all day. There are little bursts of activity between the sleeping sessions.

Here, they play with their favorite toy...a blue tug. Fortunately our den is large and the furniture is heavy so the girls are allowed to wrestle there.


[All these dog photos were taken by my husband.]

When they tired of playing, Ellie went to one of the large beds for a snooze. Lucy decided she wanted to share the bed, although clearly there is not enough room. She is only partly in the bed; most of her is on the floor.

Ellie moves and Lucy stretches out. I have no idea why she didn't use the other bed to begin with.

While she loves to curl up into a ball, she also likes to stretch on her back to sleep. She will lie in that position until she sneezes or her airway obstructs, much like a person with sleep apnea. It makes her awaken with a start and she looks at us as if we have made noise.

Ellie has decided that she would rather lie on the floor than have to share a bed with Lucy. There are many times when Lucy will use Ellie for a pillow. If Ellie starts to get up, Lucy will growl at her! Fortunately, Ellie pays this no mind and does what she wants.

Fall is definitely in the air with much cooler nights. The trees are beginning to turn even at this elevation. We wanted to get up to the Blue Ridge Parkway this week, but the cams showed lack of visibility due to the fog and rain. Perhaps we'll get there next week.

Whatever your weather, I hope you have a good weekend. Indulge yourself. Let the vacuuming go and read a good book, or take a long walk. Call or write a friend.

AND HAVE A GREAT WEEKEND!!!

Fridays are Golden

We had another four inches of rain this week, taking us out of any drought category (not even abnormally dry) for the first time in more than two years. It is wonderful!

Our dogs are very active and will run on the trails until we make them stop to rest. However, they hate rain and become a couple of slugs in rainy weather. It amazes me that they are content to simply lie around on rainy days. One would think they would become restless. Instead they do not seem at all bothered by the lack of activity. Too bad they don't know how to read...I'm sure they would love a good book on a rainy day. They do occasionally play actively with tug toys or wrestling.

Ellie picks up a toy and it appears they are finally going to see some action.




But Ellie declines, leaving Lucy to play with the toy by herself.

She carries it across the room while Ellie simply watches. "Go ahead, Lucy. Enjoy yourself. I'll just sit here and watch."

We are fortunate enough to have a large screened porch. They love sitting there watching the birds and animals or just listening to the rain while we read. So I thought a visit on the porch might ease their boredom.

Lucy takes a look into the woods. Usually, she goes to each side of the porch looking for action.

They are not at all interested in being on the porch. Both of them go and stand at the door, clearly wanting to go back inside.

I try to explain that they have this entire porch to themselves. As you can see, they are still begging at the door.

I glance at my watch and I immediately understand what is going on. It is within an hour of dinner time! While the girls cannot tell time, they instinctively know when the dinner hour is approaching. And since it is my husband who provides the feast (if you call dry dog food a feast), they do not leave his side when dinner is an hour away. No matter where he might go, there are two Goldens who appear tethered to him.

----------So I let the girls back inside. They immediately lie directly in front of the chef to make certain he doesn't forget to feed them. We learned the hard way the Goldens have no satiety center. When Ellie was small, we simply left food in her dish like we had done with our Springer Spaniels. Very quickly she porked up and we learned that timed and measured feedings are the way to go. The girls consume their meals in less than two minutes and it's all over.

We are expecting even more rain this weekend so I will spend it reading, knitting, or visiting neighbors. The Golden Girls? They will lie around and reluctantly go for a couple of walks in between showers.

Have a wonderful weekend! Enjoy the time you have to spend with family, including the canine and feline members. Our time with each other is finite...so enjoy every single minute you can.