November 30, 2020. Madison, Mississippi. Rain.

When sitting at lunch at the camp outside Tuscon, Arizona where Ken and I were working for the summer, it started to rain. The campers exploded with joy. They cheered and poiunded on the table and laughed with glee. They had not seen rain since the last August and now it was at the end of July. The rainy season had begun and the children were filled with joy. The rain lasted about an hour and then stopped. Every day for about an hour, it rained. The the sun would come out. I had never seen such excitement due to rain. After all, I had only lived where rains come regularly. Right now there is drought in the great plains of the US where the crops are grown. They tell me this on the Rural channel. Brazil is experiencing a major drought, so much so that the price of soy beans in the US has gone up. The expectation in Brazil is that the crop will not be good due to the lack of rain. Who would have thought that the price of commodities in the US is impacted by drought in Brazil? We live in an interconnected world. Since I have returned to Mississippi in mid October the sun has been shining. But all day Sunday it rained, sometimes hard and sometimes light, but always rain. The rain started in the middle of the night and just kept coming. Thursday night late the rains came down and kept on raining all night. Early in the morning I was told that we had big storms and thunder. And a tornado set down mid way between Clinton and Jackson. So finally we now we have enough rain. There is nothing like waking up to hear rain beating on the roof. The skylights in the living room seem deafening. But I like the rain and have enjoyed these two days of rain. Being without rain is miserable. Even the Hill Country in Texas has received a decent amout of rain, which is a great blessing. My friend Wendy tells me that rain is the gift to gardeners. And I believe her. Even though I am not a gardener, I like rain.