A Saving Rain?

In 36 hours, Four Cedars Farms picked up more than eight inches of rain. And so the drought ends – in one weekend.

Now that we’ve transitioned from dry summer to moist late summer, I can tally the losses – the first, second and third bean planting, the first and second cucumber planting, the melons, the blueberries, and the peas. The jury is still out on whether the transplanted lilacs will survive. (A few leaves still cling to the plant but they are shriveled and brown.) The other plants, especially our resilient trees, teetered on the edge all summer despite our best efforts to give them a periodic soak; they are now enjoying monumental amounts of moisture, which is filtering to the depths of the subsoil.

This morning, the property is lush and green. You can’t step more than a few feet outdoors without noticing the wet. It moves quickly – from squishy steps to soaked stockings in seven seconds.

But wait. Rain isn’t supposed to fall like this, in torrents so severe that it sweeps away land under bridges and houses and roads and cars … under people. Rain that saves crops and nurtures nature shouldn’t also destroy property and cost lives. Yet this rain did.
This hadn’t been the rain that we had prayed for in church Sunday after sunny Sunday throughout June and July. We had asked for a saving rain, a soaking rain, a steady rain – not a deadly rain. Not a flood.

Those close to this weekend’s disaster must now tally the storm’s losses. While they do, I will watch the trees drink their fill and ponder why – why are our prayers oftentimes answered in such unexpected, tragic ways?