A RAIN REVIVAL

We received some much-needed rain here yesterday morning. An hour of so's worth of thunderstorms which, once or twice—albeit only briefly—produced what could rightly could be called downpours. We've had a couple of other recent showers so insubstantial as to barely fit the definition, with little effect to the landscape. But this one was sufficient to inspire the brown-yellow grass to wake up and show a bit of green. Many of my flowers now look perkier, too. 

While the amount of rain was still not enough to cause more than an inch of rise in the river or create a discernable change in its color, the herons, kingfishers, blue-winged teal, and other denizens all seem to be enjoying themselves. It also must have encouraged the various sunfish and minnows to move from their refuge depths in the deepest pools back into the shallows. 

In mid-afternoon I watched a great blue heron stalk the water's edge across from the cottage. In twenty minutes the ol' feathered angler nailed four or five small fish—each of which was quickly dispatched and swallowed. 

What a difference a good shower makes to a parched land. The grass turns green again, flowers and shrubs revive and rally, and a great blue heron garners an easy meal.