Drought

The drought continues. We did get a splash of rain on conference
Saturday - to assure us that it still can happen . . .

On the way home from church today I saw hedges, mostly dead, around
homes. I saw properties with grey/brown lawns that any other year
would still be green and soft to walk on. The children's soccer field
is so hard and dry that one of the kids playing there fell and broke
his arm. The soil is as hard as concrete - perhaps harder, and the
grass is dry and thin as paper. There is simply no "give" under the
dry grass to absorb a falling child.

Elsewhere roots of trees are sticking up above the shrunken soil. I am
using the rinse water from the kitchen sink to water our skyrocket
junipers and six year old ground-hugging evergreens around the base of
the sugar maple tree in the front yard, but there is no way to rinse
enough vegetables and carry enough water to be sufficient for the
sugar maple. I hope it survives. (I am reminded of the article of
faith, "and we hope to be able to endure all things . . .)

I drove over Silver Creek, and saw that there are puddles - and a
trickle. I guess whatever water there is upstream is being drawn off
into the deep wells and used to provide our drinking water. It never
occurred to me that being so close to a large stream, Silver Creek,
and a major river - the mighty Ohio, 3 miles away - there could ever
be a drought so significant that it would change our landscape to this
extent. I have given water to the tomato plants, but evidence says not
enough, as several have just shriveled and died. Others continue to
thrive, though the squirrels are so thirsty that they open many of the
tomatoes, sometimes even green to get the moisture inside. If it gets
any dryer, even the squirrels will have to use picks and shovels to
bury their winter foods.

Life goes on, and there are plenty of things to bring laughter to our
souls. Even at church we smile as a youth speaker tells us about the
importance of diligence in all our efforts: "Think of Albert Einstein.
What would we know about gravity if he had given up after his first
experiment failed?" ((I suppose that was a "contraction" of Tomas
Edison and Sir Isaac Newton, but whatever it was, it did prompt some
smiles.)

There is an up-side to the drought: There are fewer mosquitoes out
this year than ever before. We have actually sat on the porch and
enjoyed the air without those pestiferous beasts. That works until the
dogs next door begin their howling. Maybe we are just getting older,
as we are bothered by the barking and howling and whining of next
door's two big dogs. But it was so nice for all those years not having
barking dogs close by. I think that we will invest in the more
powerful birdhouse style dog bark stopper system. The little hand-held
ones seem to be effective for about ten feet, as the dogs back away
from the fence to avoid the high pitched noise emitted each time they
bark, but I understand that the birdhouse unit will transmit a
stronger signal. Perhaps it will quiet the dogs even when they are on
the other side of the yard. I think it is worth the investment to find
out.

We are so thankful for good health and happy children and
grandchildren. We are happy that we have a temple so close, and glad
that a new one will be built in Indianapolis. Folks from up that way
must come two and a half hours to get to ours, so it will save them
much time. Friday night there was an accident on Interstate-65, and it
took the baptismal group from Carmel, just north of Indianapolis 4
hours to get (late) to the temple. The youth were able to complete
their ordinances, but that only after a marathon drive.

We enjoy hearing from all of you and always welcome you to stop by if
you are in the area. We still have fun even if there isn't green
grass. Instead of Bocce, we might even get out the good old board
games! (By the way, does anyone have the rules for the board game,
"Adverteasing"? I got the game at Goodwill for fifty cents, but
without the rules. I can download the rules for $4.00, but if anyone
already has a copy and could e-mail the rules to me, I'd love to check
the game to see if it is worth the space it takes on the shelf -
without spending the $4.00!)