Aug 7 2021

A magical sound entered my slumber. Was I dreaming? Or was it the musical drumming of rain battering my roof and filling my eardrums with hope? It was a wonderful sound. Rain fell and soaked our drought-ridden valley. I had a sense of relief hearing the drumbeat of water falling.

It was also the sound of hope.

I thought about those poor unfortunate souls evacuated from their homes north of us. It is unbelievable how many people have been affected by the wildfires this summer. The huge swath of land from Vernon to Kamloops and north to the Shuswap Lake is immense. The forest burns with an intensity that consumes everything in its path. The fires have turned everything on its head, Including displacing a massive amount of wildlife. Predators and prey have been running for their lives, fleeing the raging inferno.

Finally, some much-needed rain poured down overnight. Sadly the rain quit by 10:00 am. I hope it has slowed the forest burning north of us. This was the first rain of any sort we have had in months. It has been a double-edged sword of sorts, the weather has been very warm and nice; if it wasn’t for all the smoke this would have been the most amazing summer. But rain is what we needed to feed our world.  

I lay there and listened to the musical sound of the falling rain. I opened the window and breathed in the aroma of fresh moisture coating the ground. It was a welcome change from the acrid smell of smoke that has pervaded our world for much of the last month.

The rain isn’t the only storm we have dealt with lately. There has been a resurgence of a viral storm as well. The Central Okanagan has been singled out as a hotbed of Covid lately. It is mostly those that are young and not immunized that have caused the surge in cases.

Cases of covid, but not hospitalizations – yet.

In Alberta, they have resigned themselves to the fact they will have to live with covid and move on. The youth and the anti-vaxxers aren’t getting the vaccine and at this point, they are the ones that are getting sick. In BC the health authorities have put in new restrictions because of the surge in cases. Restrictions are limited to our immediate area of the Central Okanagan. Why should the rest of us pay for the ones who don’t want to get out of the proverbial rain?

So much of what the government has done is no longer making sense to everyone. 

Nature doesn’t pick and chose what area to strike with the fire. It will ignite where there is someone careless. BChealth officials are trying to use the same logic with covid. They want to limit interactions in an area they think people are careless. But sometimes lightning strikes and fires start anyway. 

How long can we continue to have our lives restricted?

Soon it will rain again and douse the blazes burning on our world. Soon enough people will be vaccinated to douse the flame of covid that continues to burn around us. 

Only time will tell if Alberta has done the right thing by opening up or BC by locking back down… 

In the meantime let it rain, please let it rain.