First Summer Rain

My sweetie removed everything from our little mini-shed to level it. When warning him that we'd better get everything back into it because it was clouding up, he assured me the dewpoint was not high enough yet for the monsoons to start. I looked dubious; clouds were quickly darkening the sky. He wasn't feeling well but said he could put the things away later. Out of concern for him, and potential rain, I insisted we do it immediately before I left for the afternoon.

About half an hour later, I headed into the shower to rinse off. Already undressed, I cocked my head and listened carefully after hearing a few odd plinks on the metal top to the exhaust fan. Yep, it was raining alright.

I threw on a robe and went to inform my sweetie that the rain had begun, rain that didn't care what the dewpoint was. I bit down, hard, on my tongue to avoid saying, "I told you so" about the need to put away the shed's tools. (I admit that I did "tell him so" later. After years together, you'd think he'd have learned to listen to me when I get a feeling about such things.)

We walked out onto the porch and watched as the rain began in earnest.


In no time at all, water began dripping off the porch roof.


It puddled on the ground below. We probably won't get our rainwater harvesting set up until fall when the temperatures drop again and we can work outside for hours without risking heat exhaustion.

I went back inside, rinsed off in the shower quickly, got dressed, and headed outside to wander the property to see how the water was moving across it. There wasn't much accumulation yet so we mostly just got wet and enjoyed the fresh smell of rain. We walked along the road and watched where water flowed together before heading into our wash, the lowest point on our half-mile chunk of road. Sure wish I'd gotten those berries planted along the banks already!

The rain drops suddenly picked up volume and speed, absolutely soaking us with huge drops. We returned to the porch, noting a section with drips coming through the roof. (Add another repair to the weekend to-do list...) I dried off from my second shower. After a few minutes, there was more water flowing down the drive, running off towards the drainage points on the property.

We may be in the arid Southwest but it still gets muddy!