Posts: 3,145
7/3/12 3:36 A

Today is my father's birthday. He was born 95 years ago. I remember our celebrations of the fourth and of his birthday. We always had a potluck picnic on the banks of a lake or swimming hole. When we got hungry we'd get out of the water, run to the tables, grab a bite and get right back in the water. Swimming and diving were the purpose of the day. We never worried about cramps and none of us ever had them, even though we ate fairly continuously. I wonder if the small but steady eating helped our digestion? We never got really full, just comfortable. It wasn't like some of the other holiday meals where one overeats and has to be sedentary after.

It is about 12:20 AM. I took a nap earlier and am now up for a while. That seems to be my sleeping pattern lately. I know there is a full moon tonight, but it is pitch black outside and I can hear the rain dripping on our roof and on the ground outside. It is cool, around sixty five degrees. I wish I could share some of this wonderful cool with those of you who are scorching. I know too that many of you would like to have some of our rain. This kind of gentle rain really soaks in so it would do your garden a lot of good.

Recently I drove past the reservoir near our home and noted that the water level is so high that an island in the lake is nearly submerged. I've never seen the lake so high. I think it indicates that a much dryer period is coming. The water level in that lake is regulated by the anticipated weather. Some of the water stored there will be let out as it is needed for the farms down lower and to give the salmon enough water to get upstream.

I never realized the need for reservoirs when I lived in Michigan. I don't guess the topography there lent itself to building dams. Perhaps in the upper peninsula they could have been built, but I don't think there was a need. Here, the summers can be completely dry. We usually have little or no rain from mid-June through September. That means that we must irrigate. The reservoirs aid in that The water seems to be rationed to some degree, especially east of the Cascades. Eastern Washington and Oregon are very dry and when you travel there you will see all kinds of irrigation, from ditches and canals to pipes with one or many nozzles to spray.

Enough for this post. I'll see you later.

Love, Judy