Today I actually thought I was losing it. My impression of the last few days was that I hadn't watered a lot, and so I didn't bother to check the cistern before putting the sprinkler on my shade garden. As a result I almost burned out the pump because I let the water level get down to the dregs. This was the first time all summer I've made that mistake. I guess I'm pretty tired of it all, but I did call the Water Truck for a refill - again.The picture above from Canada's Weather Network shows our 14-day trend forecast. You'll notice that it indicated rain for today. The day's done, as for the rain, well, you know the story: it didn't materialize. The rest of August looks equally dismal.
The title of this post comes from one of the kind comments I received from a blog reader in Washington. It's so true: drought will do that to you. I was interested to discover that mental health researchers in Australia have actually coined a word, solastalgia, for drought stress as it affects people.
PS: Here's a link to article about solastalgia as a human response to environmental stress by Glenn Albrecht, an Australian researcher in environmental health. It's a bit academic, but fascinating.
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Hello,
ReplyDeleteIf there is a such thing as drought stress then I am a sufferer. I am from MS and it is hot and we have drought after drought after drought. I feel sorry for my gardens. You said in your bio that you are a writer. Are you a reader? Check out "Diary of a Wannabe Gardener" it is a funny read that will lift your gardening hum-drought-drum. You can preview it at www.bbotw.com Let me know if it relieved some drought stress.
Thanks for the comment and the suggestion. Sounds like fun. Hope you get some rain too.
ReplyDeleteI'm in the southeastern U.S. suffering from similar drought and gardener's distress, and finally getting some rain and a bit of a break from the dreadful (and unusually bad) record heat.. Amazing how it lifts the spirit and has me thinking about sowing fall seeds!
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