Deprivation

A small, ground-hugging, round-leafed weed with little purple flowers is cropping up in the back yard. The recent rain, though slight, has made the lawns considerably greener, too. The sun came out this afternoon, and will probably appear every day for the next week, at least, but the air is still chilly. Winter and spring seem evenly matched for the moment. We need a few more snows in the mountains if we are to have enough water without draining the reservoirs down this summer. They were only just last winter filled to capacity for the first time in years, and now we might have to start shrinking them again. That's one reason I'm hoping that winter will get a bit of its strength back and spring can be held off until its proper arrival time in March.

And I'm hoping our winter gets its strength back soon, because if we get a warm spell and more plants start blooming, then the options will be either to have a drought or to have much of the new growth perish in a belated freeze. In a good year, Nemo would have dropped much of its water on the west and would have been less intense in the east. But the jet stream is apparently being perverse and taking all our potential irrigation water away to make blizzards in places that don't need them. I hope this isn't the new normal.

I think my biscuits are done. Must get them out before they get too dry.