plumeria

I ran to snap this picture after a brief bit of ran the other day.  We are in a D4 level drought.  They’re calling it an exceptional drought.  Exceptional has such positive connotations, I would call it a devastating drought.

We have had a shade over 1″ of rain in 2009.  Everything is dying, brown and crisp.  Wildfires are claiming land and taxing our resources.  Every highway rimmed with large stretches of blackened, scorched earth.  The grasses so dry they cut you to walk on them, if they don’t crumble like dust beneath your feet first.

Taking pictures of your kids in fields of blue & white bluebonnets is a Texas tradition, you almost aren’t considered a real Texan if your photo albums and walls don’t have pictures of happy children amongst the fields of emerald green and royal blue.  This year, there are no bluebonnets.  The droughts have robbed us of the colors, scents and traditions of years before.

Boat ramps are closing, lake levels dropping and thousands of acres disappearing in hot blazes, leaving charred, scarred earth and shattered lives behind.

These tiny little drops of hope glisten like diamonds in the sun and I hope they aren’t the last that I capture, I pray that there are millions more coming soon.

7 Comments

  1. Rachel, that is a gorgeous shot!

    We have been under drought conditions for a very long time too, but not nearly as bad as your region. In fact, it’s raining now and expected to continue through the weekend. I would send some your way if I could.

    Tara R.’s latest briliancePhotoHunt & SOOC

  2. Beautiful photo my dear. Here’s hoping to much rain in your future.

    Ree’s latest brilianceHaiku Friday – How is this fair?

  3. I hadn’t heard about the drought either, but I think that this post is so beautifully written. I’ll do a little rain dance for you all. I’ve been to Texas, and can’t imagine it without those fields of blue.

    Rachael’s latest brilianceMemorial Day: My Thanks

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