Water

 

I’ll stop on my way to work this morning and pay my water bill. Because of changes in the postal system last year, I no longer have time to mail it back to them after I receive it in my mail box. We no longer have that little “Caddo” mail slot; instead everything goes into one bin, to meander across time and state before returning home. I’m not confident that I can mail my payment and beat the due date, so I drop it off at the water office.

I’m lucky I didn’t have to take out a loan to pay this one! I hope August is the last drought month. Despite pulling out plants, giving up on the vegetable garden and NOT watering the lawn, our water bill is more than double the amount I usually budget for summer.  I have saved some money by not buying any new plants, but I lost the money I invested in four new shrubs this past spring. All dead.

At 40+ days of 100+ temps, water is not enough to save some plants. The heat puts too much demand on them and interrupts their growth cycle. I will probably lose a tree, the four evergreen shrubs mentioned, two lilacs, a forsythia, a buddleia, and numerous perennials. I’m praying that we get some rain before the spruce and the hostas get any worse.

The animals are thrilled each evening when I refresh the water in the rubber tubs I’ve placed around the yard. They start gathering within minutes, so I suspect they are watching for me. The cows are still cooling off in the pond as often as possible. Water seems more important to them than food.

I carry a huge bottle of water with me whenever I leave the house.  I have water in my little refrigerator at school. Yesterday I bought twenty-four bottles of water for my students. I’ll talk with their parents tonight and remind them to send refillable bottles to school.

We are surviving the drought.

We are preparing for more hot, dry weather this week.

But we are praying for relief…and water from the sky.  

Comments

[Megan]

Jocelyn wanted to know if you have plenty of Fruit Chillers to keep you cool.