When the Rain Rolls In
I can’t exactly remember the last time it rained. I suppose it might have been just before I posted this update on the gardens at the beginning of July. That would have been over six weeks ago now. Since then the solar pump coming from the ponds died and died again and something in the pallet garden took full advantage of our weakened plants because it is all gone. The tomatillos, sweet potatoes, tomatoes, and peppers were completely eaten by some large and hungry pest.
The chicken field fared just a bit better. We harvested the popcorn which had taken a beating but still gave a bit. The yellow summer squash is singing its final farewell. And the okra, well, if we can keep the ants away they seem completely unfazed. I must remember to plant okra in June, if nothing else.
But what I really meant to tell you about today was rain. It is hard to put into words what water is to a homestead in a dry land. You can go weeks and months without it before hearing the sweet sound of raindrops on a tin roof. And when it comes, it is a celebration of gratitude.
The skies here are so intense, much like the extremes in climate we feel through every season. With dark clouds on the horizon we all ran out to the clothesline to bring in baskets and baskets of clean laundry. And when that was said and done and the first drops pinged off the roof, the children gathered around windows to watch the rain.
Stewart and I just sat and soaked in the break in the heat, the silence coming from the children, and the first rain we’ve seen in I don’t know how many weeks.
The sound of rain on the roof is always a comfort, I never tire of hearing it and we get plenty where we live.
That picture of the family hurrying to bring in the washing is magical with the clouds looming in the distance. Just beautiful!
You are working so hard and giving so much to this one short glorious life we each have, and I love that you are able to find joy when it gives back to you. Your beautiful description called to mind a scene in “Sarah Plain and Tall” when the rains finally come.
Very cool pictures! Do you use a real camera (i.e., not a phone camera)?
Bless you, Shannon! I love your gratitude, too. Where I’m from, we have sections and sections of farmland irrigated from canals built when the pioneers came here. It’s a part of our landscape, I guess. But I still know the sweet sound of rain on our patio roof outside our bedroom. I love to fall asleep to it.
It was very hot and dry here, too. My tomatoes just couldn’t cope, so they’re really small, as is the yield. Oh, well. Live and learn. Next year, I’ll get over the romance of containers, and plant them in the ground out of the full blazing sun!
Thanks for posting.
I remember in Africa, where dry season was a months-long (8?) incessant period of sun and dust clouds that had rolled in from the Sahara, I had a dream of rain on the tin roof and felt so deliciously thankful and refreshed, only to wake in the night to find that I had been hearing the wind rustling in the leaves. I remember sobbing in my bed.
But when the rains came, there was dancing and mud and green, and all was well.
Blessings to you!
Hello Stewart & Shannon,
I’m Paul and we live in Southern China. I’ve been reading and enjoying your site and was just wondering if you would consider putting up a boarder?
Not for me, but possibly our son who has just returned to the US from China as an missionary kid and is looking to live off-grid or someplace with a natural kind of lifestyle.
He’s always been into your kind of nourishing days. We know he (Bradley) had wanted to find a place in Colorado and so the last we heard from him was at the airport in Denver when he arrived from Beijing. I’m not sure where you all are. Maybe you’re not even in an area where our son would like to live. I don’t know.
Anyway, I sent him your website and maybe he’ll contact you about seeing if you need a hand in keeping up the farm. He’s a loving, bright, strong 22 yr old and he loves the Lord. Earning money isn’t on the top of his list of things he thinks is important.
He has lived in China most of his life except for about one or two years on his Grandparents farm in MI. I think he will be a little out of place in the US. We’ve been praying that Yahweh would lead him to the right place to start off. Somehow I got on your site and the thought of a hired (helping, non-paid) hand might be in both of your interests.
Just ask the Lord if you need to do anything. Please let the Holy Spirit lead in whatever you do. Thank you for your consideration.
Blessings on you, your family and your work!
Love,
Paul and Carolyn Ramsey
“All your children shall be taught of Yahweh; and great shall be the peace of your children.” Isaiah 54:13