The weather doesn’t look good … no rain in our forecast

At the time I’m writing this, two hurricanes are headed toward the Gulf Coast … at the same time? Get real, won’t they bump into each other and like the Gingham Dog and the Calico Cat … just eat each other up? Nope. Like a good man, Marco decided to wait for the lady Laura to make an entrance first … fill up the bar ditches, soak the ground, over-run the ponds and lakes, and bring those bayous up to the top. The poor alligators won’t have a place to sun … even if there is a break in the clouds.

By Thursday night, Marco will have made landfall. With winds over one hundred miles an hour … and the clouds sucking up tons more warm water from the Gulf, those people along the coast had better get out of town or get out their water-wings.

I must admit, the rainy areas in East Texas and South Louisiana are lovely. Spanish moss in the trees, green grass on every lawn, pine trees that touch the face of God. Whereas we here in the drought-belt have grass that crunches when you walk on it, tomato plants that produce vine-dried tomatoes with such hard skins that you could break a tooth on one.

People who live on the lakes in the area remember the last time. The lake dropped so low that you had camp out halfway to the water’s edge. Docks tilted over, ruining the walkways. We need rain around here.

Thus, is the conundrum. Will the tragedies associated with Laura and Marco bring us a little rain … or maybe a bunch of rain? We’d like to see about ten inches. We hate seeing the news reports of people wading through their living rooms, piling into rescue boats with total strangers, and stacking sandbags to keep out the flood waters. But … if science can get us to the moon … couldn’t they figure out a way to redirect Marco … besides shouting “Polo”.

I don’t envy the people leaving the area for dry ground. Let me tell you, dry ground is not pretty. We’ve got more dry land than we need. They could even take some home with them. They will have had quite a job. Getting clothes for a couple of weeks, books for home schooling, masks so they won’t kill Grandma, and their insurance policy packed into their cars will be daunting. It will probably fill their cars to overflowing. I know some friends from Houston who are packing up and coming to stay with relatives. They will have been packing for days and their cars, full. They will have had to get on the road quickly. The traffic will have been horrible, … but do they have to whine so much. Arriving in this area with rain-washed cars and windshield wipers that haven’t cracked in the sun will not make them any friends.

I know, there will be devastation, ruined businesses and homes, flooded crops and possibly death. It’s going to be hard on everyone down there … but they’ve got to understand our side … I will have to run my sprinklers three times this week. The bill is going to kill me.