My first summer here was very pleasant.  The weather stayed in the 80’s for the most part and we had enough rain to keep everything green, and unbeknown to me a three-year drought had ended.  Now last summer things heated up a bit but we still had enough rain to keep everything green and happy.

However, this summer it has been unseasonably HOT.  Temperatures are in the mid to upper nineties for days on end.  The humidity sears your skin and keeps you ‘glistening’ while you work… which by the way you get up early to do and try to be done before eight or nine AM!  That is unless you like feeling like the Wicked Witch in Oz when she shrieks,

 

 

“I’m melting, Oh!  What a world, what a world…”

There’s been rain and rumors of rain all about us, but our little enclave is dust.  We see the rain and occasionally get a tease of rain, but it is so dry that the scorched, and cracked earth just sucks it up before you even get to see a puddle.

The lack of rain has taken its toll on our lawn and gardens, but I don’t care so much about that.  I worry more for the farmers here who rely on the rain to grow their crops.  Cotton and soy are holding their own, but the corn is dying where it stands.  The leaves point up to the sky as if in prayer for rain, yet none is forthcoming.

Here on the Farmlet I have endeavored to keep at least the gardens from dying and have watered the grass out back to keep the geese in fodder, yet it is barely enough, and so costly.   Our water bill and usage doubled (strike that, Bob just said it…) tripled last month.

Now the good news is this:  We have a well on our property.  It isn’t running because the pump and tank need replacing.  This is needless to say expensive. The cost to have someone come and replace it is about $1,400.00 and we don’t want to dip into our savings for that expense.

So how is that good news? You ask.

Well hold on, I’m getting to it!  The new neighbor fella across the street from us works on wells for a living.  He came over this morning and confirmed what the well repair company already told us, “Yup, it’s all got to be replaced alright.”

Now the next part of this is positively Providential!

He went home, made a shopping list of every part I would need for the job –  pump, holding tank, pipes, wires, tape, glue, simply EVERYTHING. I asked him how much for the labor…

And then he said:  “I don’t want nothin for it.  I’ll help ya’ll out for free.” and “Just wantin’ to help a neighbor in need, doing the right thing, ya know? ”

I tried to insist, but he is refusing to take anything for it.  So, I guess my new neighbor is going to be in free eggs for the duration, and at least one of Bob’s smoked chickens in the near future!

What a blessing!

Meanwhile…

Our heat index for tomorrow is predicted to be 108 to 112 degrees.  Hotter than the day this picture was taken.

The rain came down in Madison, hit the pavement, and immediately went back up into the sky.  Remember in grade school those picture diagrams your teacher showed you in class trying to explain how the water cycle worked?  I think this makes the process self-evident.

Back in the chicken yard the hens are all lazing about and panting…  I am worried for them in tomorrow’s heat.

In the meantime we bake and wait for cooler weather to prevail.