Torrential

It was a dark and stormy morning the day I left. Lightning flashed. Thunder rumbled. The rain poured down. It was still too dark to see when I pulled out of the driveway.

Coming back days later I could tell it had rained hard while I was gone. The signs were there. Creeks were running high. There were washouts on the road. Trickles that slide down rock faces were at full torrent. I think Christmas day they got smacked.

I came home to find a new gully to go with the one I already had from Culvert Falls on the slope below the scenic byway. Thank you so much NCDOT. Your new drainage canals worked perfectly.

I will not be having another gash on the slope below the scenic byway in my garden. The next morning the DOT's new drainage channels for the low spot in their sunken road were filled in. We are under a flash flood watch again until Thursday morning. No you may not pour more water down through my garden.

My garden sits in a natural drainage. When my parents first bought this land, this spot was a moss covered wet seep. Then the neighbor above and across the byway built roads on his land and the water was shut off. A Tall Flower Meadow started to grow.

A good bit of water is still directed through this drainage. The amazing thing is all that water is absorbed into the ground before it ever gets to the bottom. I'd like to keep it that way.

The gravel in front of the mailbox got a fresh deposit of grit. It stayed put though. I directed more water off the byway from above into the existing channels. I did my part. The DOT does not get to put another gash through my garden when an existing gully down the road was handling things just fine.

All this rain is washing the dust off the new gravel in the basement patio. It will be ready for relaxation and refreshments come spring.

Warm and rain has put both 'Jelena' Witch Hazels into full bloom.

'Jelena' #1 is in full unfurl.

The snowdrops started popping up all over in just the few days I was gone.

I even have the first hellebore in bloom. Many other have started to send up buds. This is the first December out of the nine I have been here that there are actually flowers in bloom. December was always the one month of the year with no flowers in the garden. The gardener and the weather have conspired to change that.