Finally!

I have never lived anywhere that has gone without rain for so long.
Neither have most lifelong residents of Asheville.
We are in the most severe drought in the state and the normal pattern of afternoon thundershowers is a distant memory.
I spend my days in the arid heat and search my mind for memories of moisture.
Not too hard for this Oregon girl.
There are few feeling like plunging into a swimming hole on a hot summer day.
But I think a good downpour beats any lake.
Everything comes alive. The dust is washed away and the green of everything is revealed again.
I thought I would never see such a thing again.
It had been about two months since I had seen rain out my window.
But Tuesday brought relief.
Buckets of it.
Tropical storm Faye graced us with her presence
and reminded us that we don't, in fact, live in
Arizona. Buckets of water fell from the sky and a
smile spread across my Pacific Northwestern face.
"Feels like home...." I said, and walked out into it
with my arms open and my face turned up to the
sky. Our garden is happy, the river is flowing and
our yard no longer looks like a scene from the dust
bowl of 1935. As I write this, the sky is still
offering us relief. It is cloudy and rainy and cozy,
if I do say so myself.
Finally.