Yesterday, I started a very different post focused on our recent rain. I was happy to see the first real rainfall since last March. According to one account, this has been the driest start to our winter rainy season since 1930. My rain barrels were empty and I'd been forced to run our irrigation system during a period that usually finds it off more often than on. After frequent fizzled forecasts of rain dating back to November, I turned a deaf ear on the rain forecasts I heard last week so, when a gentle rain started on Monday, I was delighted. I wasn't even annoyed when I got drenched in a brief deluge as I headed across a parking lot to the grocery store or when I discovered that my beautiful Hong Kong orchid tree (
Bauhinia x blakeana) had been stripped of all its blooms overnight.
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| The photo on the left was taken Sunday afternoon. The one in the middle was taken Tuesday morning. The Bauhinia's flowers (right) blanket the area below the tree and petals are scattered throughout the garden. I'd been puzzled by why the tree was so floriferous this year and now I have the explanation: until now we'd been virtually rain-free. |
My joy over the rain dimmed markedly when details came in on the
mudslides in Santa Barbara County, still struggling to recover from the devastating effects of the
Thomas Fire, now classified as the worst in California's recorded history. At least 15 people were killed by mudslides there that swamped houses, throwing some off their foundations, and burying everything in their paths. Two dozen people are still missing and dozens more were injured. Mudslides are a fact of life in California following major wildfires but it's easy to underestimate their force. Santa Barbara County issued a mandatory evacuation order for 7000 people but many ignored it. Following a year of heartbreaking natural disasters, here's another one. Mother Nature can be brutal.
The rain here wasn't nearly as heavy or intense as it was to the north of us. Our roof-top weather station recorded just over an inch of rain over a 2-day period. Most of it came down slowly. Late afternoon sunshine on both Monday and Tuesday produced rainbows.
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| This rainbow appeared over the Los Angeles Harbor late Monday afternoon |
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| On Tuesday, the rainbow sat closer to Angel's Gate, the spot through which ships enter and exit the harbor. A cruise ship, the Island Princess, sat in port (left) awaiting departure. |
I wondered if I could catch the cruise ship leaving port with the rainbow shining over it but Mother Nature and the Island Princess did not conspire to make that happen as I stood there shivering and snapping more photos.
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| As the sun went down, the rainbow gradually faded into the surrounding clouds. The Island Princess turned on its lights but remained sitting at port, eventually heading to Fort Lauderdale under the cover of night (with scheduled stops in Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Columbia and Aruba). |
There's another chance of light rain 8 days from now and several more opportunities in the long-term forecast over the next 2 months but it doesn't look like like we'll have the kind of rain we had last year, which is probably fortunate for the burn areas. In my own case, everything is thoroughly soaked and the irrigation system is off. I estimate I've accumulated a little over 320 gallons of rainwater among my 3 barrels too. That will do for now.
For more Wednesday Vignettes,
visit Anna at Flutter & Hum.
All material © 2012-2018 by Kris Peterson for Late to the Garden Party
