Swinging From the Trees

The cover picture above was taken last night during another storm here in Kansas. No…not really! I wouldn’t be out at one in the morning snapping pictures. But, I’m fairly certain this is the way the landscape was looking.

If the storms keep up, we will officially be in a tropical rain forest before too long. Then Kansas will look like this:

Which is really pretty and green. But with all that water, comes lots of greenery, which again, I love, but plants can bring little creatures like this:

Or this, (warning, graphic material here!):

I’m sorry, I just don’t like snakes in any form. Even if they are a cheery green color! This pretty bird isn’t too bad:

But he looks a little grumpy. I would be too if I was living in a swamp. When people think of Kansas, they remember tornadoes, and Dorothy wearing red sparkly shoes. I haven’t seen a lot of those shoes around here, because believe me, they’d be in my closet if they were available!

The storms the past few nights have been different than usual. They come if with a loud bang, literally. Lots of lightening follows, and then the sky opens up, dumping buckets of water. They pass us pretty quickly. A couple of times, another storm has come through. When you are waiting to take your shower between cells, this can be rather frustrating. No tornado watches or warnings that I have been aware of, just tons of water. I can enjoy that, since we have a good roof.

All this water is wonderful for the garden, and the lakes that are filling up. Until it’s not so great anymore! My husband has been wanting to purchase a kayak. Before long, he will be able to use it to get to work.

So for now, I’ll treasure the water, and try to breathe through the humidity. I have a scraper to tackle the moss build-up on the side of the house, if this keeps up. Little frogs, even blue ones, are welcome here. A pretty bird or two would be delightful. The grandchildren would love a monkey swinging through the trees. But, ‘NO SNAKES ALLOWED!” signs are posted two inches off the ground.

And soon we will return to the Kansas we know so well: