Three glorious days of rain have fallen in this area. Sometimes day and night. The ground is delightfully spongy. There are trees and shrubs, desperately trying to turn green again, in spite of their large collection of drought stricken leaves.
The flowers that are blooming, have plumped up again! They finally have enough moisture to make nectar like they should. And when it warms a bit, the bees are all over them for obvious reasons.
It feels though, like we have skipped from August to October. That we went from scorching late, summer heat, to a quickly cooling foggy fall. Later this week a cold front will be coming through making our temperatures dip into the 30s in some places, already.
Our little Grey Tree Frogs have not made an appearance again, since our second heatwave. I don't know if they hopped away to some better place where perhaps there was more food, or if they decided to dig in for the winter. Normally when we get cooling rains the frogs come back out and sing and gorge themselves til the first hard frost.
My husband did report though, with the first heavy rains, that he saw five or six frogs hopping across the wet roads. Those were most likely leopard frogs. I actually heard some of their singing at a friend's pond for a second or two. Like they were doing it just long enough so that we would know that there were still leopard frogs in the world.
Amphibians are still hard to spot.
Thanks to the heat, there are precious few bugs for them to eat. Even the spiders are sparse. Normally this time of year, in keeping with Mother Nature's Halloween type theme, rural yards are covered with the nocturnal webs of cat-faced spiders. They stretch their lines between houses and trees, dangling just at head level, waiting for some unsuspecting human to walk through their massive webs in the dark or at dusk.
I have seen 3 all year, and 2 are gone, probably eaten by birds. Why do they call them cat-faced spiders? I am not sure. They seem big enough to wear a cat's face when you find one dangling off the brim of your hat. In reality they are about the size of a large black olive, but when they are on you, of course they are 8 legged behemoths.
They can be a real nuisance on hiking trails in some areas. In the past, there were so many, that their webs almost formed canopies on the tree tops lining the trails. You had to carry a long stick, so one could clear the path for walking at dusk.
The hummingbirds are already gone. And even though monarchs should be everywhere, if I see 5 the whole day, as I drive from one end of town to another, I count myself lucky this year. The migration doesn't just seem sparse. It seems almost nonexistent. I should see at least 5 at every stand of wildflowers, 30 or more in certain rural areas with large patches of wildflowers. More often than not, I see none. And even by normal standards, my normal is sparse, a sign of the Monarch's decline. To me this is on the same level of spooky, as the lack of amphibian song.
It's supposed to rain today in the Southern half of the state. We will be grateful for whatever we get. It rained on the first day of the State Fair, and I don't recall seeing or hearing anyone complain, not even children. Everyone here, it seems capable of cogent thoughts, understands how bad things are in the moment.
U.S. Drought Creates, Water Woes for Great Plains States.
Towns in Texas are having issues just meeting basic water needs for citizens and businesses. That doesn't surprise me at all. But apparently this is news to a lot of people. The fact is, these already arid and semi-arid places were never meant to support the populations that cover their land now. Over-water usage, combined with the local effects of global climate change, and increased populations have had a perfectly predictable outcome. Add to that the use of billions of gallons of water for fracking in these areas, and that predictible outcome might arrive sooner rather than later.
When you go from sparse, hardy prairie grasses on sand and clay, to Kentucky blue grass sod on every lot, while increasing your population, and therefore your agricultural needs--you are going to use a lot more water. This isn't rocket science. We could see this coming, way back in the 1970s.
Oklahoma is so concerned about water supply shortages and groundwater depletions that legislators passed a law this year providing grant money and incentives to make more efficient use of water on farms, in businesses and homes - and to encourage increased processing of undrinkable "brackish" water. Huffpo
For the first time ever, I have seen commercials on Oklahoma television channels, pushing what appears to be the beginnings of what some might call a Green Agenda. Some are figuring out that being green and sustainable isn't about politics [as Jim Inhofe would have us believe] but in fact about pragmatism--or dare I say it? Survival?
Here is a story about the partnership between the Nature Conservancy and the Chickasaw Nation:
Tribal nations have been challenging the state government over both the amount and quality of our water. Something that is becoming increasingly important as the world heats up.
I am not going to pretend I know all the details, though after watching the videos, the description of the Oklahoma Law Makers, etc., waiting til the last minute, so they can skip the Environmental Studies, is in keeping with past patterns of behaviors. Perhaps the First Nations will force our elected public servants to actually do their jobs correctly. Oklahoma has great potential on many fronts. We have so much more to offer than gas and oil.
"Over the last couple of years, people have started realizing that what they thought they had in terms of supply is not materializing. They are really panicking," said Barney Austin, director of hydrologic services for INTERA Inc., an Austin, Texas-based geoscience and engineering consulting firm. Overall, more than 30 U.S. states are anticipating water shortages by 2013, according to a report by the Environmental Protection Agency. Huffpo.
I am not sure if I would quantify this as hopeful or not. It's so late in the game. Perhaps I am hopeful about hope, if that makes any sense at all. Oklahoma has seen a rise in people pushing for more sustainable living. Bike lanes in Edmond, interconnected walking and biking trails in the OKC metro-area, and now a new take on water conservation. Even though we are a gas and oil state, these are good signs. But we need more wind and more solar.
I already see signs of better urban planning in places like Norman and OKC where new neighborhoods are being built to encourage walking, there is even a bike share program. That is quite a departure from our tendency to glorify urban sprawl. But will it be enough? Is this too little, too late?
I hope not.