How Dry I Am

Today is October 27th...it hasn't rained a drop here since we got a little less than 1/2-inch on September 23rd.

Before that, I think but can't exactly remember if we got any rain here the same time we went to Pigeon Forge/Dollywood, August 21st.
I remember it rained on us up there, but I don't know if I know it rained here, or I just assumed it did because it rained on us up there.

Before that, I remember thinking it had been at least 3 weeks since it'd rained last.

Needless to say, we're in the EXCEPTIONAL drought area.

Now I know what a fish out of water feels like. It feels like I'm suffercating.
I've had to break out our old humidifier for my naggy cough and bleedy nose.

I was telling the boys the other day they need to remember what everything looks like right now...one day they'll be telling their grand-younguns how it used to look around here before we turned into a desert and renamed us Georgi-zona.

Of course, it's Fall.
Leaves fall in the Fall.
In the South, people burn leaves in the Fall, that's what we do.

Except, you know, during an EXCEPTIONAL drought.

Except being in an EXCEPTIONAL drought doesn't hinder some dumb heads.

John's been running numerous illegal burns at work in his county, and Ryan has gone on 8 or 9 fire calls over just the past few days around here.
One person burning leaves caught their garage on fire and burned it down. Another's fire got out and almost burned down the neighbor's house.

There's been several brush/woods/forest fires.

There was a forest fire across town a couple of days ago,  we could see the heavy smoke from our driveway. It was way out in the middle of the forest, fire trucks couldn't even get to it, Forestry had to go in with dozers. Not sure how that one started, certainly wasn't lightning.

I was outside in the morning watering my flowers and inhaled...the smell of smoke. I thought, "Ahh, smells like Fall....", then it occurred to me, "Oh wait, that's not a good thing right now!"

There's been a lot of forest fires to the north of us, and this one started in the west side of our county the other afternoon and spanned 3 counties.

There were multiple fires along the highway so they thought someone had intentionally set them, but later said they believed chains dragging on the road likely sparked the fires.

We've had droughts before, but for some reason I don't recall them being this rough. I guess they were, though, since, in 2007, our Governor, on the Capital steps, Prayed for rain.

Besides being so stifling, being so dry isn't all bad.  We haven't had to mow the grass in months. No mud. The chicken coops don't smell like hog pens. We're able to work on outdoor projects. I can leave paint projects or things out in the yard or on the porch and it not get wet. No leaking new roof.

Ah well.
Weather happenings are interesting. I wonder what will happen next.
(Pretty sure I'm not supposed to ask that question....)