Looking for a "some other day"

.04 inches is what the Weather Channel website says we have had in precipitation for the month of September. No one is even thinking about rain or expecting rain for the rest of the month though the forecast shows a slight possibility. I went into the local grocery store for a few things, this afternoon, and thought as I came out "looks like rain". I was expecting to walk out into an oven but it was indeed raining and it felt a bit cooler than when I went in. As I took the cart down to the cart corral, I saw a woman come out of the store under an umbrella. I asked myself 2 questions-One, how did this woman have an umbrella with her and two, why was she under it. She must have a goat personality instead of a sheep personalty.

My good friend who raises goats said hers always take cover when it rains. I wonder if this applies even with .o4 of an inch. Today may have added .01 to that total for September, maybe less.

My least favorite job on the farm is filling water barrels when they don't get filled with rainwater. I have to use 4 hoses, push them through two fences, and then go through a gate around the corner of the pasture to pull all the hoses uphill to fill the 2 barrels. Another reason to love rain. At least it is not uphill both ways so reversing the process is not so bad when I am done. Actually I do have to haul one of the hoses uphill both ways because it is the hose I use for the vegetable garden (how many hoses can a person have?).

Today I was teaching 6th graders about the Chesapeake Bay watershed. We did an activity where we explore contaminants that get into our local creeks and rivers and end up in the Chesapeake Bay. One of the favorite topics, as you may have guessed, is cattle peeing and pooping in the creeks. How many hoses would you need to water 100 head of cattle? That's why farmers let their cattle in the rivers. The state of Virginia will pay farmers to fence their cattle out and also pay to pump water up to watering troughs and such from another water source on the property such as a well. That is what I need. Unfortunately, I don't have a creek on the property that has any water to fence the sheep out of.

It may be time for another RAIN DANCE!