Even in this prolonged drought, the woods provide enough moisture for at least a few of the fungi waiting–their patience far exceeds my own–for enough moisture to wet the deep soil and spawn an uprising of above-ground parts. I am growing restless wondering if our creek is going to survive to the end of this rainless period that has our grass crisp and creek slowly vanishing day by day.
Goose Creek dried up completely in 2002–for the first time in living memory of the oldest neighbors. Could be we’ll have a 100-yr drought twice within a single decade.
By the way, did you know that there was a second DERECHO not a month after the blockbuster of June 30? “Rare” weather events is getting harder and harder to define.
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Love the picture!
I am such a fan of funghi
Well, according to the link, derechos are not all that uncommon:
“At least two people were killed July 26 when powerful thunderstorms and tornadoes barreled across the Northeast, knocking out power and downing trees. The intense thunderstorms were caused by a weather phenomena called a derecho, a line of thunderstorms that travels at least 240 miles and reaches wind speeds of at least 58 miles per hour. Although derechos are common in the Midwest and Plains regions of the U.S., they only happen every couple years in the Northeast.”
Every couple of years doesn’t seem to me to be “rare”.
Of course rare is a relative term. Compared to hundreds of tornadoes and thousands of severe thunderstorms, a half dozen derechos a decade seems rare to me. And two in the NE in a single month stands in contrast to that “norm.” I know that before the June 30 use of the term, I had never encountered “derecho” before, and I’m a pretty serious follower of weather and climate. It seems this type of storm has not happened as often in the NE where cooler temps provide less “fuel”.
Good resource for derechos at About.com: http://goo.gl/P3PKn
Alas, no fungi in our woods this year, and little waterways that have not dried up in years are dry.