Wettest Darkest June Ever

Not the 6th rainiest June on record. THE rainiest June on record, ever. And also, this past June
had the least sunlight ever. I am becoming unhinged. And so is Eloise the dog who broke loose
today and ran straight into traffic two times, saved only by excellent drivers. Thunder storms make her crazy. Soon, I, too, will be running toward oncoming traffic, mistaking headlights, no doubt,
for the sun. . .

Poet Lisa Siemens

Lisa Siemens, wonderful poet and teacher, with one of her cats. Lisa's the one who worked with Kate Barnes.

Art provided by grocery shopping

Three quotes from Marilynn Robinson's Gilead

"For me, writing has always felt like praying. . .you feel you are with someone. I feel I am
with you now. . ."

"Sometimes I have loved the peacefulness of an ordinary Sunday. It is like standing in a newly
planted garden after a warm rain. You can feel the silent and invisible life. All it needs from you is that you take care not to trample it."

". . .it is easy to believe in such moments that water was made primarily for blessing, and only
secondly for growing vegetables or doing wash. I wish I had paid more attention to it. . . .This
is an interesting planet. It deserves all the attention you can give it."

Maybe 6th wettest June ever

So far this June, we've had 6.5 inches of rain and this might well be the 6th rainiest June EVER. Not a contest I was hoping we'd win. So here are a few pictures from the garden. Everything's rain-varnished and even the zinnia (that's clearly had a few slug run-ins) is looking
radiant. The plant above is my first lima bean plant & I took its picture because I'm fairly certain it, too, will have slug visitors and probably won't survive. . .

As for the rain? I've learned that car pollution increases the likelihood of rain. Auto pollution from commuters builds up all week so that there's a 22% higher chance of rain on Saturday than on Monday.

Virga is the name of rain that falls but never reaches earth. (How I would love to see some of that!)

One source described various rain drops as being shaped like hamburger buns!, doughnuts
and parachutes.

And Ilor in Choco, Columbia gets the largest measured rainfall in the world at 523 inches a year! I guess what we've been having would seem like minor drizzle to them.