Last night, two storms swept over Brisbane in the late afternoon and early evening. Neither of the storms went directly over our house. We caught the fringes of the first storm, but nothing of the second storm. The first went to the west of us, and the second to the east.
Why was I paying so much attention to this detail?
We planted grass on a bare section of our garden two weeks ago. Every morning and every evening I have been out watering that patch to help the seeds germinate and the grass to grow. Selfishly, I didn’t want to water if I didn’t need to.
Yet, I also wanted to empty the rain water tank, so that the rain could fill it up again. That is satisfying, although it has nothing to do with watering the grass. After all the rain would water the grass for me as well.
I grew up in Africa. Botswana is mostly desert. I grew up relishing the rains when they came. So much so that even after 14 years living in the UK, I still liked that rain.
I felt frustrated that it did not rain on our house. It was not satisfying.
Yet, what do we really want from these storms? We want them to pass over the right catchment areas that feed our dams and reservoirs. We want those dams full so that our plumbing works, and we can take a bath, wash our cars, and water our gardens.
At least one of those storms passed over the catchment area for the dam we draw our water from. That should have been satisfying.
But it wasn’t. I wanted it to rain on me!
Rain that falls on our house, doesn’t feed the catchment. It flows into the nearby creek, which feeds the nearby stream, which flows into Moreton Bay. Not into one of the dams. So it may have been satisfying, but not long-lasting.
Things don’t have to happen to you, to be good for you. Good things that happen in the right catchment areas that feed your life, are good for you. You won’t feel the benefits directly. But you will indirectly.
unfortunately you probably won’t notice it happening, but you will notice it not happening. We notice the drought, but not the dam being regularly topped up.
Where are your catchment areas, and are they being regularly topped up?
P.S. The whole time I was writing this post I was thinking about the song by Travis “Why Does it Always Rain on Me?”
* Feature image courtesy of Reza Shayestehpour from unspash.com
Heath 