it was a texas size event

IT WAS A TEXAS SIZE EVENT YESTERDAY

cbsnews

the cbsnews link above and the la times linked here give a good description of what happens with the atmospheric rivers

those of you east of here that havent felt the brunt of this river
well 
you will

we got probably close to 2 inches based on our rain gage in the community garden
ill check it this morning for a final measurement
it was at 1.5 inches halfway through  the heaviest of the rain

its a big deal when it first rains here because we go months like 6-8 months without any rain
you can imagine how much dust accumulates outside on things
and
how much oils and goop accumulates on the roadways
so
when it rains especially early on the roads are extrally slick

it reminds me of folks in austin driving in the snow 
thats what its like when it rains here
i personally like to get out and drive in the rain 
heck its a free car wash right
and
to walk around to watch the water make rivers everywhere

lake oroville a big holder of water in northern california rose 20 ft
we need a heck of a lot more water though to replenish all our water we are missing
well take what we can get

all the fires are put out
the mountains got a couple of feet of snow

there were mud slides in several places shutting down the highways
so far i havent see no bad mud slides like we had here in santa barbara and montecito a few years ago that shut down highway 101 for months and killed several folks

i started my day sitting on my couch with the sliding door open so i could hear the rain hit our metal awning and hear the rain dropping down the gutters
it was a soothing sound
it was a country n like moment

i had an appointment to get to so i dug out our hardly used umbrella to keep from getting too soaked
as i drove out of the garage it felt like i was in a car wash it was raining that hard
it was flowing down our drive like a small river

by the time i drove on the road most of the goop and oil slicks were washed away

one thing i didnt do is walk down to the creek that is a block away
it usually fills up and flows like a river with rains like this
ill add that to my bucket list today 

after my appointment i went to the community garden to check on it
i wanted to see how the water was flowing on the garden
there is a gradual decline from the front of the garden to the back where it drops off down to a deep creek that i think flows into the creek near our condo
it all ends up in the ocean

the water flows into the middle of the garden front gate then off to the left side then down past my garden plot under the back gate down the steps into the orchard then down the slope to the creek

if it doesnt hit obstacles it washes away soil and forms gullies as it flows 

what we have done is fill the walkways full of mulch and i have made swales that slow down the water flow which makes the water stay on the property longer and soak into the ground

i havent looked yet but im sure our two rainwater tanks are full now
they hold 120 gallons of water
we use it to water our veggies
the overflow from the tank runs into my garden where i have 1 foot deep trenches full of mulch 
these trenches can hold several hundreds of gallons of water

thats all water staying in our garden that would have ended up in the ocean

we had a 10 gallon bucket full of soil that was all dried out
i checked how deep into the soil the moisture level was after an inch and a half of rain 
it wasnt even a inch deep before i hit fully dry soil

you can imagine how dry all that soil is in our garden

you could see how much all the newly planted veggie had perked up with the rain already
the whole garden will  probably explode with new growth this week
its prime time to pull weeds also since the soil is wet

from the garden i went to visit mr hudson 
they had a fire going and it felt good with all my wet clothes i had on 

this all reminded me of texas during and after a good rain

then after my nap there was hardly a cloud in the sky
the sun was bright
the air was crisp and it felt good going into my lungs

this morning i cant wait to go to the garden to see how nature is responding to this infusion of a much needed rain 

it was a texas like event
an infusion of life blood into an ecosystem in need of a good rain

my favorite time to be in the garden is the next day after a good rain

the organicgreen doctor