So, the good news is that it finally rained last night. The bad news is that it was too little, too late. The state has clamped the severe water use restrictions back on. According to the local news rag, we are shy some 18 inches of rain since last August. Over the past four years (48 months), rainfall has been below "normal" in 34 months. Again, according to the local rag, the last time we had a drought this bad was 1964-68. I remember that time. My parents moved to "the country" (OK, Bedminster which my New Jersey readers will point out is not really "country") right in the middle of the drought. This was the first place they had owned where they had to deal with a well, and my father freaked. He had us taking showers where we got wet, turned the water off to lather up, then back on to rinse. It wasn't until the fall of '68 that we got some rain and the family water restrictions were lifted.
 
So, I'm hoping that this rain, and the rain we're supposed to get towards the end of the week, coupled with my liberal use of the soaker hose (very, very water miserly...only uses a teeny bit of water and that goes directly to the roots of the plants,) will save my bushes. The lawn is being left to its own resources: either it comes back or it doesn't. If not, I spend next spring dealing with it. I'm afraid that all that is going to survive is the crabgrass. I don't know how that stuff manages to survive...even thrive... under conditions that are killing virtually everything else that is green.
 
I do think Judy has saved the tomatoes. The first couple had what looked like mold damage, but what we were later told was caused by lack of water, so we have been watering the vegetable garden every night for the past couple weeks. We also got a Miracle Gro feeder and have been feeding the veggies every other week. I think that we will be in produce for the rest of the summer if we can keep this up. As I understand it, the water restrictions do allow for the watering of vegetable gardens.
 
I do feel for the people of Central Europe. This country hasn't seen floods that deadly in...in...well, I don't think in my lifetime; perhaps the Jonestown flood of 1889 or the Galveston Flood of 1900 (Yeah, yeah...hurricane...but most of the loss of life was caused by flooding...so, it counts!). And the damage estimates are in up in the multi-billions of US dollars range.
 
I note that Global Warming doesn't necessarily mean that it gets hotter (although that is a probable outcome). No, all this means is that there is more energy in our system so there are likely to be more severe "weather events". Our drought here on the East Coast of North America and the heavy rains in Europe fit the model very well. As far as I'm concerned, we have been warned. Now the question becomes one of whether we can do anything to mitigate the effect we are having on the environmental control systems of the planet.