Raindrops keep fallin' on my head...I wish!

Actually, if I were indeed melting that would imply (because I am part witch) that I would not in fact be so parched and dry.

I was raised in the lovely town of Eugene, Oregon, and its environs. Which meant I was accustomed to an annual average rainfall of just over 50 inches. Fifty glorious satiating inches of blessed drink of the Goddesses. Pure clear rainwater fresh from the heavens.

Provo, Utah (average annual rainfall of 16″ plus, in a good year, some snow) became my permanent home in 1982, during which Utah had what has been termed a moisture climax of 10 times the average annual rainfall. I still have a photo from the front page of The Deseret News that shows a river running down State Street in Salt Lake City. And the story about someone catching a fish from it.

Therefore I was deceived. It was not until I was married and settled here that I realized this one startling fact:

Utah is a desert.

And I had just relocated to this:
[broken link]

I have tried dutifully to become a good citizen of the arid land. To thrive in spite of summersfull of 100+ temperatures and endless days of cloudless, barren horizons. I fell in love with fire-red cliffs. I forsook the lush green underbrush in the forests of the Northwest for sagebrush; cloud formations for rock formations and roadside wild blackberries the size of your thumb for happy roadside sunflowers.

But in my heart of hearts I truly madly deeply miss the cool breeze, beautiful stormy skies, and constant pitter patter of neverending rain (along with the wild berries). I never found cloudy skies depressing. I found them encouraging.

This year I decided despite the fact we had no real spring, we are have record high heat and we are again in serious drought I was going to be a good sport. “Be one with the heat,” I would tell myself. Instead of constantly resenting the oppressing heat I would slow down, take a deep breath, and try to appreciate not being too cold.

But as of today I have had enough. After spending three hours in big airless tent in the middle of the mall parking lot, I must just say it out loud. I don’t like this one bit. I am wilting. Utah summers make me tired, cranky and completely non-productive.

What I wouldn’t give for a big old thundercloud right now.