0.32"

That’s the total rainfall we received at my house from yesterday and early this morning. The big stuff was all around us, but we never got pounded. We’re about 18″ behind for the year, and we’re in “exceptional drought,” which is the most severe category.

Basically, in the heat of the day, the lawn spontaneously bursts into flames.

A third of an inch is enough for the yard plants for a day or so, but it won’t matter at all to agricultural interests or water supplies. I’m counting our blessings, though. Usually, the mosquitoes at our house are so bad by this time of year that we don’t use any standard exterior doors after sundown. The process is to come in through the garage door, use the laundry room as a buffer zone, and then enter the house.

(This was a lot more important to me when the boys were well and truly babies, but it still sucks to hear that damned high-pitched whine in your ear when you’re trying to go to sleep. Plus, I hate waking up to find the bitch roosting on my bedroom wall, ovoidly bloated with my blood.)

The laundry room buffer zone has been unnecessary so far this year, and with 58° forecast overnight, I might even forget that my lawn is dead as I sit on the deck late tonight with a snifter of Jack Daniel’s Single Barrel (always neat; water or rocks is heresy), pet my dogs, and reflect.

Thanks to cornellcollege.edu for the image.

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