YAY!!! It's Raining!

Rain is pounding on the kitchen skylight and our excitement is shared; we feel like doing the happy-we-get-to-turn-the-irrigation-off dance. It's nothing like the 68.9" of rain that pounded us last winter but the parched chapparel around us desperately needs water and just like most things in life, there's a fine balance between too much and just the right amount. Too much rain causes excessive growth of everything and it looks green and lush and gorgeous. Trouble is, it doesn't normally rain here between April and November, which causes all this green and lush growth to become dry, yellow and brittle and, well, it's really just like kindling on the mountainsides. Too little rain and that tinder dry stuff is still sitting there ready to burn. Just right amounts of rain create the right balance. So while I love warm, dry February days following by coolish February evenings, I really, really love rain in February.