The rain, the rain

Yesterday was particularly stormy.  The rain just kept coming.  The run-off ditches were close to overflowing and I think with another hour or so of that rain we would have seen some flooding. With so much water, the ground gets saturated and the old trees become waterlogged.  And then the wind started to blow. The result, of course, is that the waterlogged trees get too heavy for the saturated soil and fall over often taking out powerlines with them.  Nature also does a great job of pruning her trees.  Large and small branches were being trimmed from the trees with suprising speed. And, yes, the power went off.  I was in the process of writing this entry when the lights went out, so I went to bed only to be awakened by a large flash and a long period of rolling thunder.  That was great because we don't get thunderstorms here very often.  The dog got very nervous and hung at the window for awhile just watching and whining. I only experienced one more flash before I drifted into a sound sleep.

This is a script page for my book, "Little Do We Know". Originally I wanted it to introduce an elf named Brook and have him wonder if "one more raindrop will overflow the world". When it rains this hard, I often question that myself. My critics believed the thought was rather frightening and that small children reading the book would worry about it. I'm not convinced as I believe kids think about that kind of stuff all the time and just need a chance to explore their fears out loud.  Discussion with an adult is usually helpful.  I remember on Mr. Rogers, the PBS television show, he would talk about such things like going down the bathtub drain after a bath.  He would discuss that many children fear this prospect but would assure them that it was impossible to fit down the drain. My own kids worried about that when they were little.
I like to talk to children.  I find them interesting and funny and their grasp on the world around them is enlightening.  I think we should all try to talk to kids a bit more.  But then, I'm a school bus driver so it's part of my job.
I keep meaning to mention: please visit my daughter-in-law's blog. janemarieblog.com  She is a remarkable photographer and posts pictures of a beautiful baby.  She is very talented at all sorts of things and is quite funny as well.