Isaac Brings Rain

Our neighbor's pond - full to overflowing. Photo taken through rain spattered window.

Today all eyes are on tropical storm Isaac - well at least all eyes that live in states that border the Gulf of Mexico.  Fortunately, for us who reside along the Gulf in Southwest Florida, Isaac decided to veer farther westward.  We've been having bands of rain and wind but, for the most part, it has been a fairly well behaved tropical storm.  Hope it will behave itself when it reaches land - wherever that ends up to be. 

Photo above - Raining again.

Photos below -  Pond next door is starting to back up into our neighbor's front yard.

This raining season has been wet and our ground was well saturated before Isaac swung by.  Hopefully we'll not get the predicted amount of rainfall since the storm shifted its direction farther to the west . . . hopefully ! :)

 

A Drying, Dying Wetland...

I am being extremely naughty and ignoring my Etsy shop...have ignored it for several days now, but then it’s not been doing anything, no sales, no genuine public interest, so it’s not like I’ve turned my back on a thriving enterprise.

Today is the 1st of May but here, in my little part of South Florida, it feels like full blown summer. For the past few days the temps have reached into the upper 90’s with extremely low humidity, unheard of here. Each time I exit the car and shut the door I experience the sharp shock of static electricity, something I'd expect if I were in Southern California or New Mexico.



Yesterday I explored some of the less visited areas of our property, a wetlands area sheltered by massive live oak and adorned with natures ferns and wildflowers. In the midst of all this lush greenery a pond once existed, protected from the rays of the sun it was a cool, quiet retreat. But drought like conditions, constant winds and unrelenting heat have turned our pond into a mere mud hole...and even that is quickly drying out.


above: wetland ferns encircling dry pond bed.

These photos were taken in what was once the pond...not long ago I would have gotten my feet quite wet standing here to take these snapshots. I pray that this rainy season will bring sufficient rains but then I can't help but fear perhaps mankind has so altered our climate that wetlands such as this, will become a distant whisper, a faint echo of what used to be.