I've taken some pictures of how things are looking in our area. Not good.
Remember Dave and Dave Too the turtles we rescued? Here's the creek where we put them as it looked last fall.
This is what it looked like when we put them in the creek, just two months ago.
This is what it looks like today. Looking south.
Looking north.
The hardy yucca are turning yellow...
...and dying.
The stoic prickly pears are shriveling up.
There are stands of bamboo around the public library, they are all turning yellow and probably in their death throws.
Warning! the following picture may be disturbing to some.
A fawn left where it was born. Not much bigger than my shoe, a whopping size nine.
It's all a bit disturbing, this heat and the dry. Everyone is tired of it, on edge, wondering about the future. Private wells are going dry. The city is on stage 4 water restrictions which means the only watering that can be done is with a hand held hose and only once a week. And yet our "city fathers" are wanting money to build a new exit off the interstate so they can open up a tract of land for a proposed 60 new homes. And another developer wants to build somewhere between 130 to 150 homes not so far from where we live.
Either we don't have enough water for the people who are already here and our government officials are stupid idiots for wanting to add more, or, we do have enough water and they are lying to us. I strongly suspect the first.
For those in the northeast and south, I truly sympathize. All that flooding, all that damage. It's the same here, only in reverse.
Have you ever been through a serious drought?
OMG, Bish, I can't believe how long that drought is lasting and what a toll it's taking. And those pictures say a lot. Poor baby fawn. Poor creek and wildlife. I can see why everyone is on edge. I've never been through a serious drought. We've had droughts in So. Calif., but nothing like that. And then to have the flooding in other parts of TX. Both conditions are awful, and I feel bad for everyone dealing with it. I hope things get better soon.
ReplyDeleteA decade a go when I lived in the Atlanta area we had water restrictions for a few summers...but nothing as serious as what you are going through. My heart breaks for humans, wildlife and plants. We are all connected.
ReplyDeleteOh no, Bish. That's just heartbreaking. I hope you get the rain you need soon!
ReplyDeleteWhoa. What are you doing in Texas? Visiting family?
ReplyDeleteIt breaks my heart to think that Dave and Dave Too are no longer with us. It breaks my heart to hear the city fathers are STUPID wanting to build new homes when they can't even supply water to the homes that are already there.
ReplyDeleteI wish there was a way to give you the water that is coming my way in the next few days. A week of rain is predicted due to TS Lee. Climate change sometimes makes me wonder if the end of the world is really upon us.
I'm praying for rain for you.
Wow. Your photos show the devastation in a way that words can't convey. Difficult to see but I'm glad you posted them. As to your city fathers? Sickening. Follow the money.
ReplyDeleteWe pretty much always have a drought going on here. It bugs the heck out of me when I go back East and people let their water run at the sink. I wish we could spread out the water love a little more evenly on the planet.
ReplyDeleteI hate seeing things like this happen. Sitting here in Houston wishing for rain, while others are drowning in it! How is it that things can get so bad! I wish I had powers to make it rain. Save our animals, our plants, our grass. Here I thought we would get lucky and all weekend the sun shined. Though I love happy weather, I think it's beginning to turn a lot of people.
ReplyDeleteI live in So. Calif. and know what a drought is. We were in severe drought conditions for several years. that also meant wildfires were a constant threat.
ReplyDeleteI will pray for rain for both of us.
The photos said it all.
Wow! I have never experienced a drought myself, but your pictures really give me an idea of how awful it is. I'm so sorry. Praying you get rain soon.
ReplyDeleteSo sad. I hope some rain comes your way soon, Bish.
ReplyDeleteAngela@ The Bookshelf Muse
Oh, this is so disheartening. I'll pray for rain! I hope things thrive soon!
ReplyDeleteAns: Absolutely. We live in a semi-arid area and have had droughts like yours. I think I've already commented n your blog that I'm known as the "Water Witch" in my family. I'm always screaming, "Turn off the faucet! Don't throw that water out; put it on a plant."
ReplyDeleteMy mantras: We can make it without money; we can't make it without water. Sidewalks are clean enough without hosing them down. Landscape with native plants, not lawns.
The fawn, the turtles should be like canaries in the well, and no one should be surprised to find that we're fighting our next war right here--over water.
Oh my goodness, that's terrible. We haven't had a life threatening drought in England since 1976, I believe. Every year at least one region in England is subject to a hosepipe ban but I suspect that this is far more due to mismanagement by water companies.
ReplyDeleteI pray you get some rain soon, all the areas that need it.
Wow. Everyone up here has been complaining about the icky weather this summer, but clearly other places have it much much worse. I wish I could send some of our rain down there!
ReplyDeleteWow, those are some extreme drought conditions. I've been surrounded by drought at times and I supposed been in conditions of minor drought, but I've never had to deal with anything like water rationing. Pray for rain!
ReplyDeleteLee
Tossing It Out
Have I ever been through a drought? Yes, but nothing, nothing like yours. The river that runs through our town is high and rushing in spring, and usually just rocks and a few puddles by July/Aug. The worst drought we ever had was in 1988. That summer I vowed never to complain about rain again. But, of course, there can just as easily be too much of it, depending where you are.
ReplyDelete