Summer Rain and a Silver Tree Frog

Most of our summer rain comes from pop-up afternoon thunderstorms, which may be frequent but are always hit or miss.Today's view across the front lawn.A few days ago I watched as boiling clouds filled the horizon. A nice wind blew the clouds in our direction, and a green tint to the sky predicted a real gully-washer. Thunder shook the house, but the rain passed us by. People within a mile of us got a brief, heavy downpour, but not us. That is the way July has been.

Our biggest summer chore is watering our very large garden. Every year I lose a few plants to environmental stress because high temperatures, wilting humidity and droughty conditions can affect even native plants. So I am very grateful for the rain tropical storm Barry is sending our way today.I was able to take several photos during breaks in the rain today. Everything is wonderfully wet!My part of Alabama is at the far eastern edge of Barry's influence as it makes its way through Louisiana, so we should not experience dangerous winds or flooding, but only a much needed soaking over the next couple of days. An inch of rain has collected in my rain gauge so far today, and more is coming.

I recently discovered someone else who must appreciate the rain:

This little tree frog has been staying inside the large rain barrel we use to collect and store water for the woodland garden. At first I thought he was an albino, but research reveals that he probably is a type of Gray Tree Frog. These creatures are variable in color due to their ability to camouflage themselves by assuming tints from dark gray to green to white depending on where they are sitting. I found him on the metal grate inside the rain barrel, so he is doing a good job turning himself silver!

This is not the first tree frog to take summer refuge inside our woodland rain barrel. I took this photo of an American tree frog in 2016:

You can read about the American tree frog and our use of the woodland rain barrel in this previous post: My Tree Frog.

November in the Garden: Snow! (Sort Of)

According to my rain gauge, we have had over 4.5 inches of rain this week. There were predictions of clearing weather, followed by freezing temps. But the rain was not completely gone before the freezing air arrived, and we woke up to snow! Sort of. We certainly did not have enough to close schools or roads, and I still had to go to my dentist appointment this morning. But the dusting we received was beautiful. While parts of the country to the north of us could claim a real snow event, we had just enough snow to lay icy tendrils atop branches and to cover leaves and lingering flowers with white crystals.

I considered if it was worth a before-breakfast jaunt into the frigid garden with my camera, then decided that any amount of snow in our part of the woods was worth a picture. So here are images of my garden, just a month out of summer and heading already into winter. Look carefully and you can see some snow!

Happy Thanksgiving to you all; may you be blessed with joy in your hearts and see beauty around you, whatever your season!   Deb