So Many Raindrops

With all the flash floods happening throughout the world, one would think we’d had enough of the wet weather. Yet, unfortunately, here in Florida, although it is our rainy season, we’re just not getting out share of rain. I know we’re not the only state that is suffering from the hot sun and droughts. There are places much worse than Florida since their droughts are causing massive fires. Where I live in Florida, we have few woody areas and certainly no forests that might easily catch fire.

Yes, while we are thirsty for rain, we are still the lucky ones. In our area of Florida, we rarely see fires unless that might occur in the unpopulated tree-filled areas. The little rain we get is like a drop of water in a large ocean. It isn’t enough to quench the thirst of the trees, gassy areas, flowers, and wildlife that so desperately need it - not to mention our local farmers.

If we see a dark cloud coming our way, our anticipation grows, and excitement begins to soar with the highest hopes that we might receive some rain. We might hear the roar of thunder and see a flash of lightning but most often, the storm disappears as soon as it appears.

Down here in southwest Florida, we see, on a daily basis, lawns turning brown due to lack of water. Farmer’s crops are wilting and dying. Our little geckos are hiding wherever they can find some shade and dampness. Even the birds aren’t as visible as usual. They’re also hiding from the brutal heat of the sun. Many fish left the harbor for the deeper, cooler waters of the Pass that leads to the Gulf of Mexico.

Yes, we are in dire straits.

Just the other day, a pale gray cloud headed our way. I said a quick prayer of thanks while hoping we’d get some rain. Thankfully, we did! There were so many raindrops. I’m sure I felt as many did – we wanted to go outside and dance in the rain, but we didn’t. In hindsight, we knew that we’d be absorbing raindrops needed for the earth. Our clothes certainly didn’t need that water. We all stayed inside and watched the rain through our windows.

Unfortunately, as quickly as the rain began, it stopped. But while it did rain, it at least rained hard. We knew that kind of rain, would definitely help the land, even though it wasn’t much. The rain lasted just long enough for me to grab my phone and take a photo.

How I had wished it would have rained for several hours rather than minutes. However, as I said, this is our rainy season, so we found ourselves hoping for the promise of another storm.

Late yesterday afternoon, the sky began to darken as the black clouds rolled in. When I say black clouds, they were not dark gray; they were black. The thunder roared so quickly in succession, and the lightning flashed almost continuously. The wind started blowing and howling. My husband and I raced outside to pull our storm shutters closed. Last thing we would have needed was for the wind to shatter our windows or push down our sliding glass doors.

I hesitated briefly and almost said to my husband, “We’ve been through this a few days ago. The storm will amount to nothing.” However, I didn’t say a word because deep down inside, I had hoped we would get the massive storm that seemed to be promised.

Our county has an alert system. If a huge storm is approaching, they send out a text alerting those in its path to prepare and take cover. As we read the text message, our weather radio sent out a warning regarding the storm. Supposedly, between the county’s and NOAA’s warnings, this should be a bad storm. Ergo, the closed shutters.

We ate our dinner, anticipating the worse, and waited. We heard no further thunder. There were no more alerts from our county or NOAA. We ventured out our garage’s back door. The little rain we’d gotten, was now replaced with a golden sunset indicating peaceful skies.

So where in the world did that storm go? I checked the weather app on my phone and watched as the big red blob indicating a ferocious storm, shrink and finally disappear before it reached our area. While we stayed in the green (meaning rain) for a while, it wasn’t a super dark green (meaning torrents of rain). We were lucky enough to receive the two inches of rain we got, but that’s about it! Yes, I have a rain gauge in my backyard, and it indicated approximately two inches of rainfall.

Why the storm dissipated so quickly is a mystery. It can’t be because we live on a canal. Many areas in Florida are on canals and they get more rain that we do. It can’t be because we’re close to the Gulf of Mexico. We have counties much more south than we are and they also get more rain. So, why then, does our county always end in a drought this time of year?

While I personally have no idea, I’m sure someone, somewhere does, but while I am curious, I am also the kind of person who enjoys the anticipation. I like watching the clouds roll in with the promise of a heavy rain. Whether or not it materializes isn’t the really the issue. It’s the anticipation and the thrill of watching an approaching storm that gets the adrenaline flowing.

As long as I’m able, I’ll keeping looking for those dark storm clouds and when I see one (or hopefully many), I will smile as the rain, and hopefully buckets of that beautiful liquid pours down, and when it does I will continue to sing, “Raindrops! So many raindrops!”