AS NEWS FROM A DISTANT LAND SO IS RAIN TO THE THIRSTY EARTH

RAIN after nearly five years of drought!! And lots of it!! HALLELUYAH! Never before has this Proverb been more real: as news from a distant land, so is rain to the thirsty earth. Our initial years homesteading this is what our home sweet homestead looked like:

Our flocks of my dairy goats and the sheep were substantial and they were spoiled for choice. There were fields of almost waste deep alfalfa as well as lush mountains to range on. Then we had a flood which denuded all our topsoil. Washed away many boundary lines and drowned huge portions of fields. We were blessed to not sustain loss of livestock though many farmers did. Following the terrible flood, in our semi desert area, came a severe drought and our green paradise was replaced by this:

Over the years, as many of you know, we were forced to sell the majority of my precious goats, the sheep and our growing cattle. We also gave up many of the vegetable gardens and learned to be even more frugal with water. Grey water was directed to the fruit trees and gardens. We sunk a far deeper borehole and what water it pumped watered two very small fields which barely kept the dozen sheep and my 8 goats alive. We relied on rain water and prayed for the rain....

A month ago we danced in the barren fields as the heavens opened! 50mm fell!! Our waterfall ran for the first time in years. The dirt roads ran rivers, our homestead was soaked and overnight, the countryside sang with hope! Life had returned and the drought, we hope, has been broken!!

Our farming community rely largely on flood irrigation. Understandably this means that many farmers in the recent years have lost everything as the huge dam has been dry with no sign of rain. Twice since the rain we have flood irrigated.

And this weekend another wonderful 25mm of life giving rain has fallen. We expect to flood irrigate again next week.

It is truly a wonderous thing to watch your toddler splashing in pools of rain water while your over 70 year old mother in law spins around barefoot in the rain! Our little oasis is now an explosion of vibrant green speckled with patches of white where the happy goats and sheep once again roam. We are so grateful for this gift from Heaven. How true it is that you only truly appreciate a thing once you have lived without it!

While I'm trying to make up for lost time, my usual Steemit posting of last year will not be nearly as regular. To find out where I've been - or rather why I've been absent the recent months peep at this post:
https://steemit.com/creative/@buckaroo/happy-un-birthday-to-meeeeeeeeeeeeeee-want-to-know-where-i-ve-been