Waiting For Rain

It's a perfectly clear day. The sky is brilliant blue. It is about 10:00 a.m. A moderate wind starts to blow and huge piles of thunderheads build in the Southeastern sky. They have gray bottoms that, although flat, are heavy with moisture. They flash with lightening and grumble with thunder as they sail majestically forward, the vanguard for a flotilla of numberless followers. Piles upon piles, they collect to form a solid gray mass over head. Then the whole mass seems to sink, carried earthward by the sheer weight of its precious cargo. The air is redolent of ozone. The world holds it's breath.
(It's at this point I used to lead my befeathered and jingle belled children outside to do a rain dance. Until they started school, they thought we made it rain.)

About 1:00p.m., the clouds would give birth to a few huge raindrops and then immediately open entirely to spill pitchers, buckets, truckloads of water. Cooool, cleaaar, waater..... After an hour or two of this beneficence, they would gather their sails about them and scud speedily off into the Western sky leaving clear skies and fresh clean air in their wake.
One time I was loping home on my old horse trying to beat the rain. We were within a stone's throw of the driveway, the barn, the hay...... when the sky opened. He whirled around, put his back to the driving storm and nothing I could do would budge him until the rain lightened up. Only then did we make our sodden way to the barn. I still miss him anyway.

So much for memories, real or glorified. This is now, and we are waiting for rain. I've been trying to catch some birds at the fountain and bird bath with little luck and my pix aren't the greatest, but here they are.

This Lesser Goldfinch believes in Ladies First.

After his turn....Ah! That's better!

A male House Finch.

A little lady Lesser Goldfinch.

The bigger birds seem to prefer the birdbath, and although I filled it at dusk last night, there was a scant half inch or less at 7a.m. when this Tohee came along.We used to call this guy a Rufus Sided Tohee, but I think he's now classified as a Spotted Tohee.

He got into the scant bit of water and just sat awhile, not even making bathing motions. The little L. Goldfinch was doing the same in the fountain.

When this lonely Mourning Dove slipped in right after the Tohee left, she had even less water. She drank some anyway, poor thing. I did spray out and fill the birdbath before coming in the house, but at 3:30p.m., it undoubtedly needs it again. I'd better go do that.