There are measures of hope, gratitude, and joy in the thick, damp air of the brush land after the rains have revived it from summer’s punishing heat.
The greening of trees and grasses, the plumping of cactus pads, the muddy desert floor filling in with chisme (portulaca) — that is sudden, palpable magic.
The gurgle of water moving quickly off the metal roofs and into rain barrels and storage tanks, the birdcalls that start tentatively to alert to the end of a particular shower — that is music.
The topped-off presitas, the rapid growth of forage and winter weeds, the smell of wet earth — those are prayers answered.
Run-off in rivulets and in wide wet bands moves down the hard packed channels of cow paths that drop to the arroyos and ponds.
I won’t run out of superlatives about what the rains bear, but in the interest of not losing your interest, I’ll put a brake on this narrative about water and photosynthesis to say that the rains have revived me, too.
From the vantage of my porch, I tap into the fuse that prompted this writing, while in the distance, coyotes telegraph their own story. I feel to the heart of me the vibrancy of this untamed ecosystem, and I feel, too, a boundless gratitude for the life I have lived here.
Your narrative reminds me that miracles still happen. I have memories of the times that it rained mud and of the times it rained that beautiful holy water that brings the land back to life. It’s the earth itself that springs back first. I remember I could smell the rain coming and later the earth responding to it. The earth has its own perfume, and its own music.
I do remember the cows in the distance, the coyotes singing at night, but the birds yes those birds singing to each other in the daytime and at night, well there’s nothing as beautiful as that. God bless South Texas. Those are some beautiful memories of my lifetime. And you.
A good rain and a new calf are welcome on every ranch. Rain is God’s blessing to the land and to us.
I love to read the wonderful things that you write. Take care of yourself. We all love you.