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Sunday, September 02, 2007

Blue Skies and Thirsty Trees

It was cooler this morning and Bill and I went for a pleasant walk around Shelley Lake. Odd how mixed I feel looking at the brilliant blue sky. I love blue skies when we are getting adequate rain in between the so called pretty days. These days, a pretty day for me means steady rain because we have had so little of it. I am glad that I was able to go on a nice walk because the heat has interfered with every fresh start I've made this summer towards getting back into a regular walking exercise routine. However, at this point getting adequate rain matters more to me than anything. This afternoon, I looked out at the skyline from my back garden and was dismayed by how thirsty the trees looked. Our periodic short showers have helped plants with shallow roots but the extended drought has started to get to the trees. The top photograph which I took this afternoon, reminded me of the second one which I took in the fall of 2006 where the leaves looked like red stars. The only difference is this time of year it's green and it's not supposed to have that dry look which adds to the starry shapes. It's supposed to have that dry curled up look when the leaves are close to falling but it's not supposed to have that look when they are green and haven't even changed colors. I fear all the leaves are going to die and drop off before they get a chance to give us their showy, colorful look. I have a young maple that has already changed colors. That's close to two months ahead of time where I live. I have a few small trees that may not make it. It's funny but I seriously get thirsty when I see how parched everything looks.
Sometimes I feel like a caricature of an old codger complaining about the weather or my aches and pains. As far as the weather goes, I don't even care as much for myself as I do for the plants and wildlife. I also care about people without the comforts I have. Everyone doesn't live and work in an air conditioned building like I do and for them the summer has been truly brutal here. For myself, the severe drought and hot summer has been mostly a nuisance. As far as my aches and pains go, I also have a lot of advantages. I gripe about the zillion specialists I see especially this time of year as I move into a doctor's appointment a week since the routine follow-up cycle concentrates at 3 and 6 month intervals. But I know I'm lucky to have adequate health insurance and manageable co-pays. Even so, I feel like a bit of a codger. I guess I'm a lucky codger and for the record, I'm not that old. There are people decades older than me that I don't think are old.

8 comments:

Rochelle said...

What beautiful pictures. And last year, here in the Dallas area, we were begging for rain. We were in a severe dry spell and our lakes were drying up. But this year we have had more than enough rain. And the landscape in no longer brown and brittle. Don't feel old for talking about the weather. It is wonderful to notice the details in life! :)

Theresa said...

Here in california we get the blue sky a lot- what I I like is the blue sky with fluffy clouds which we rarely get. Ditto to what rochelle said about talking about the weather :) good luck with your appointments.

Carver said...

Rochelle, I know what you mean. We've had a similar situation some years where we get too much rain and then it seems like it will never rain. Thanks for stopping by, Carver

Theresa, I like the fluffy clouds too. We do get them quite a lot, especially this time of year. Even when it doesn't rain we have fluffy clouds, they just don't produce anything. It's like a teaser. Thanks for stopping by, Carver

Trinity said...

Hai Carver... it's a really clear blue! How lovely are your pretty days... I am longing for the rains here.

Carver, I tagged you! Here's the detail: http://www.ruangsudut.info/2007/09/8-questions-you-shouldnt-ask-or-say-to.html

Cheers...
Trinity

Mustafa Şenalp said...

çok güzel bir site.

Anonymous said...

Decades..wow, I never thought of it that way..I AM a decade plus older than you..did you have to remind me. lol

We finally had rain off and on for two whole days..it was so wonderful..animals and people alike were just delighted and what amazed me most was that as soon as the rain was over everything was spring green. Beautiful blue skies with fluffy white clouds. We had it all for two days. Now it's back to hot (90's) and looks like it will remain so for awhile. I'm ready for the crispness of fall.
sue

Anonymous said...

you've got great shots in here!

if you don’t mind may i invite you to participate in my new photo meme every monday. thanks and have a good day!

weekend snapshot

Carver said...

Hi Trinity,

Thanks for visiting and I'll go by your site to see what I've been tagged for.

Hello, Mustafa Şenalp

Çok Tesekkür ederim

(My daughter helped me with that and although Turkish is not one of the several languages she speaks, she was pretty sure it says thank you very much. I'm sorry I am hopeless with any language besides English.)

Hi Weekend Snapshot. I will be going to your site to find out about the Monday photo and I appreciate you inviting me.

Sue I don't even think of you as being much older than me.

I hope everyone has a great day.