Atmospheric River

[1]

 

Psalm 135:7 Good News Translation

⁷ He brings storm clouds from the ends of the earth;
    he makes lightning for the storms,
    and he brings out the wind from his storeroom.

 

We have had at least 12 “atmospheric rivers” go through Riverside this rainy season. That was a new term in my book this year. This is certainly unusual for us desert rats. Almost weekly another storm has blown up across the Pacific Ocean and dumped rain on us. In towns that are built on flat ground the water can’t run off fast enough, and so it leaves floods.

 Here is a picture of the little town (about 3,000 people) of Pajaro, California, shows the flood they experienced. Or if it is at sufficient altitude, it leaves piles of snow, like it has in Mammoth Lakes, California.

 Mammoth, California  [3]

Pajaro, California [2]  

We are in hilly country, so the excess water runs away as fast as it comes down from the skies.

Sylvia said to me the other day in serious concern, “Our swimming pool is running over.”

“Isn’t that marvelous?” I rejoiced. “And it hasn’t cost us a penny!” We haven’t had to top it up for at least three months. I usually have to add water to my swimming pool once a fortnight due to evaporation. I haven’t had to this season.

Our desert hills that surround out home are usually a very dry brown color. However, rains came early—the hills were green for Thanksgiving last November. They are still a beautiful green. Two slopes in front of our house are orange from the California poppies growing wild on them. Almost every day we take Katie on an hour walk through the hills. She loves the freedom to run anywhere without a leash

Yesterday we counted over 40 different kinds of wildflowers that were blooming along the walk. We also saw our first rattlesnake of the season coiled up in a niche in the rock to absorb the spring sunshine and escape the chill breeze. So now we will all have to keep our eyes open to more than flowers for the rest of the spring.

Thank You, Lord, for making our desert blossom like a rose[4], and for keeping us safe from the snares that Satan puts in our way.

 

 

 

 

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[1] https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/s--orBwvbC6--/c_fill,fl_progressive,g_center,h_900,q_80,w_1600/iyjxqzqds5mjsoxc6yuw.jpg

[2] https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/mar/13/california-weather-atmospheric-river-flooding

[3] Ibid.

[4] Isaiah 35:1 (HCSB) The wilderness and the dry land will be glad the desert will rejoice and blossom like a rose;

 

Tread on Serpents

April 25, 2017

Luke 10:19

King James Version (KJV)

¹⁹ Behold, I give unto you power to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy: and nothing shall by any means hurt you.

[i]

Thirty or more years ago when we were searching for a home near La Sierra University, we spelled out several criteria. We wanted a home near enough for me to walk to work. It had to have four bedrooms, one for us, one for our boy and one for our girls, and one for a guest room especially for grandparents. We hoped it would have a swimming pool so we could keep an eye on what our kids and their friends were doing. We also hoped it would have access to countryside where we could walk for recreation. Of course, it also had to be in our price range.

The home we got couldn’t have matched these criteria any better. Its selling point to me was that it was situated in a little valley with desert hills on three sides. We could walk up into the hills by simply walking past three houses, and we were into the hills. During a normal year the hills turn a rich green color in the winter rains. For spring, summer and fall the hills are the color of dried grass.

Almost every day over the last 30 odd years we have walked at least some distance up into the hills, usually with a dog at our heels or galloping merrily ahead. The dog’s favorite pastime is chasing, unsuccessfully, every lizard that makes a mad dash to get out of our way. Occasionally it would be a bird, ground squirrel or rabbit. Even more rarely, there would be a lone coyote or as many as four or five them to give us a short thrill of the chase.

Sylvia and I have delighted ourselves in counting the number of species of flowers actually blooming on a particular walk. Usually we count anywhere between a dozen and two dozen species. During spring after the hills have turned brown, we find the richest number of flower species. The other day we had counted over 40 species and were at the very top of our La Sierra range and heading home down a very rough trail.

As I walked I suddenly felt something soft under my right foot, not the usual rock hard surface. In the shortest of moments, far shorter than it takes to think it, let alone write it, I shifted the weight off my right foot and made a lunge for Sylvia. I grabbed her by her waist and pushed her backwards and away. I guessed it might have been a snake I had stepped on and didn’t want her to be bitten. She thought I had lost my balance, which I have been doing since my bout with West Nile Virus, and fought to keep me upright. Neither of us fell, and I swung around to see what I had stepped on.

Right where my foot had trod a thick red western diamond backed rattlesnake was slithering slowly away from us. It hadn’t so much as tried to rattle and warn us. It had also not bitten me. I don’t know whether it had tried or not. I was wearing heavy jeans and thick leather shoes, so it might have tried but failed to penetrate to the skin. Furthermore, red western diamond backs are known to be reticent to bite unless directly attacked. But I do feel that I was under the direct protection of the Lord. In the words of Christ in the next verse:

"Notwithstanding in this rejoice not, that the spirits are subject unto you; but rather rejoice, because your names are written in heaven." Thank You, Heavenly Father!

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[i]  http://www.desertusa.com/reptiles/red-diamond-rattlesnake.html