Spring brings rain. Lots of it this week. We have suffered through a great deal of cold and snow this Winter in the Northeast, yet surprisingly it has been a very dry late March and April, and we are tinder dry. Fire alerts have been posted. Grass and trees are well behind the Spring bloom schedule. So we welcome the rain. Out West it is dire without the snow pack or rain. I visited Southeast Utah in Moab in May, 2012, and it was dry. No wildflowers at that time. Cryptrobiotic soils, where the dirt is a living organism, waiting to soak up any moisture, growing slowly over the years. Dry as can be. Not much relief since then. Of all ironies, it rained this year as I approached Death Valley, and in many places the water has changed the landscape of Death Valley. Wildflowers were abundant (if you can actually say that in a desert). Yellow desert flowers pushed aside the rock, stone and sand to bloom. We had enough water in the road to the Racetrack that I covered the Jeep I rented in mud and water. On return of the Jeep to the rental place, they knew we had a good trip.
Water is life. Many of my best images have water in them. It took me a long time to recognize my attraction to water. Water gives us the growth and green forests in the Northeast. We bemoan the washout days of rain, the partial Nor'easters in the Spring, and run for cover under umbrellas and awnings. But the ground relishes the rain, and soaks it in. We will see the benefits of the rain soon. Spring is ready to bust open.