Rain rain rain rain (no rain) rain rain...

The severe storms that have affected so many people throughout the middle and southern parts of this country make it seem petty to talk about any weather that's non-lethal, but I can only talk about my own recent experience, and in St. Louis our recent experience has been rain. For the past 10 or so days it's been rain, rain, and more rain. It comes as hours of light or moderate showers punctuated by thunderstorm, sometimes severe. We had a few hours of sunlight late Tuesday afternoon, but then the clouds and rain returned.

Yesterday morning was the first sunrise we've seen for a while, and although it rained later in the day it was nice to see sunlight for most of the morning and early afternoon. I took advantage of the morning rays to take some photos of the wetness -- the first photos I've taken in five days!

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The grass was a carpet of countless diamonds, sparkling and glinting in the sloping light:

There is no plant that captures the moisture like grasses. Everywhere you look droplets of all sizes cling to the blades, catching the light, magnifying the blades or capturing and inverting the image of the world.

I'd like to understand why some plants have leaves that are essentially waterproof, with each drop forming a tiny liquid sphere, while the leaves of other plants get coated by the water with minimal droplet formation:

Bamboo does great things with the water, not only drinking it up to help produce its new shoots, but also in the beautiful ways it carries it:

Some plants don't appreciate all of the extra water, but they're coping for now. They just need a few sunny rainless days to help dry out:

Other plants are waterproof, waxen and water-loving:

Blooms are a part of this watery world too, those both open and soon-to-be so:

The white variegation makes the water drops difficult to see, but the multitude of miniature globes on the dappled willow leaves is captivating (click any image for a larger view):

Water droplets fascinate me, and I wish I could get a closer look...

...but this is pretty cool anyway!


So while my good thoughts and wishes for strength go to those who lost anybody or anything precious in the recent storms, I'm hoping for better weather for everybody who needs it.

For me that means hope of some rainless days. Although we may get a whole dry day today, rain returns tomorrow. Sigh. I'm eager to do some planting, but my clay soil won't be drying out anytime soon.

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