PERSISTENT DROUGHT WITH INTERMITTENT WHAT?

I can usually judge the water level in our creek by the sound that greets me when I step out onto the porch or throw open the windows each morning. For most of the last two years, that sound was dead silence which, of course, meant dead dry. Then, however, even though they had predicted another dry, dry La Nina year, we started getting the occasional little thunderstorm here and there. For a short time after each one, I was greeted by a faint trickling sound.

Our Little Waterfall

A couple of weeks ago, we got about two inches of rain all at once, and it's been drizzling off and on ever since. Before we knew it, that trickle had increased to a steady stream.

This morning I awakened to a series of loud thunderclaps and a flashing light-show, followed by a sudden deluge hitting our metal roof. We got another inch and a half in a matter of minutes. When it finally died down I wandered out to my writing nest on the dining porch, and opened one of the big windows just a crack. Know what I heard? Gushing! Actual gushing! Now there are little ponds in fields that don't usually have ponds, and the culverts on either side of our driveway have turned into streams themselves.

Know what that means? That means,"Better get some groceries Beck!", 'cause all it would take is just a wee bit more rain, not just right here, but even anywhere upstream of here, for that gushing to turn into a deafening ROAR, which would mean our creek had jumped its banks, our low-water crossings were impassable, and we wouldn't be going anywhere for a while. Such is life in the Texas Hill Country -- persistent drought with intermittent flooding!

Oops! What is that I hear? May not make it to the grocery store after all. Let's just hope I can get this posted before I lose my internet connection!