Long time residents of the hills tell me that our recent weather is typical – at least it is closer to the way they remember late spring and early summer from the years before the drought cycle took hold and we suffered several years of early and dry summers. We’ve been seeing quite a bit of rain. Actually the first couple of weeks of June were relatively dry without too much rain. We had one shower with about half an inch and a few with just a trace. But we made up for it all the last couple of days. On Friday, the day started with showers. We got more than an inch that day. Then we had nearly a half an inch last evening. Susan and I had taken a drive in the hills and drove through a real downpour on our way back into town.

The rain really refreshes the hills. The streams gush for a little while, but quickly recede to normal. The trees smell wonderful when they are wet and the grass is green and lush. Of course all of that grass will provide more fuel for ground fires by the end of the summer. We know that the rains won’t continue. In the meantime we are enjoying it. You can almost watch the sunflowers growing in the garden. The weeds are looking healthy, too.

Even though we have learned to never complain about the rain, we know that it is at least a bit of an inconvenience for some. This weekend is grand camp at Placerville and I’m sure that the leaders are scrambling to substitute indoor activities for ones that were planned for outdoors. The rain did wait until evening yesterday, so most of the day was pretty nice. They probably were able to get in their hike and other things they do outdoors for fun.

It certainly seems like there are a lot of places around the world where the rains have been especially heavy this year. I can’t remember stories of floods in Calgary from my growing up years, but they’ve sure got a lot of water right now. You know it is wet in Calgary when they have to evacuate the animals from the zoo and use the jail for temporary holding pens. You know it is wet in Calgary when there is room in the jail for any new residents, but that is another story all together. The high water is heading down the streams and other communities in Alberta are bracing as the waters recede in Calgary. They are reporting that it will be several days before people will be allowed to return to downtown Calgary. Right now they are keeping folks back from the river. When they do get back into the flood areas, they’ll be facing a muddy mess that will take the rest of the summer to clean up. The report is that as many as 100,000 people are temporarily out of their homes.

The Trans-Canada highway is closed in places. The resort areas of Banff and Lake Louise are without electricity after a substation was flooded and transformers failed. Roads in the area are closed. That is a big deal in a place where the entire economy revolves around tourism.

There are some mighty forces that shape our world. We marvel at the capacities of engineers and builders. We place dams in rivers and streams and harness their power to provide light for our homes. We build buildings that seem to be secure and permanent. But natural events remind us that there are some mighty powers in this universe. The emergency spillway in the power station near Banff was designed to handle floodwaters. The waters were bigger than anticipated. The water decided not to follow the spillway. It wasn’t some gigantic engineering failure. It was simply that they didn’t imagine the quantity of rain that they got combining with rapidly melting snowfall in the mountains. We see it around here on a regular basis. When there is enough water, it seeks its own path and doesn’t always follow the creek bed. Hail can turn a 50-year roof into a roof needing replacement. Fancy cars sport fancy dents when the hailstones get big. There can be a lot of damage in a short amount of time.

Part of the story of people on this planet is that we plan for big events. We try to place our homes in safe places and we build extra capacity into our bridges and other structures. But our planning will take us only so far. Unanticipated events are a regular part of our lives. The unthinkable becomes reality. And that is the point where another human quality emerges. We are resilient beings. We adapt more than we think possible. We learn to survive in conditions that we wouldn’t have chosen. The people of Calgary who have been evacuated are having their skills of adaptation tested. The counselors and leaders at camp are learning to adapt. These are probably small adaptations when compared to real disasters. However, the ability to adapt to new situations and conditions is one of the great tests of human character. Those who have to have everything go just as they planned are often disappointed.

Last summer there was only one day in the months of July and August when it rained more than a trace in the pothole region south of Minot, North Dakota. That day, however, turned into a day of showers with nearly a half-inch of rain falling. Rainfall was pretty intense in the early afternoon. I remember it well. We were outside, in the rain, celebrating a wedding. Any other day that summer would have given them a sunny venue. An alternate site would have resulted in fewer people getting wet. The wedding pictures might have been very different than the way things turned out.

Now, nearly a year later, the rainy wedding has become a pleasant family story to share. Starting out with a little adversity isn’t a bad thing for those facing a lifetime of adapting and learning to live together. The day didn’t turn out as planned, but it wasn’t a disaster, either. We adapted. I held an umbrella over the bride. The wedding proceeded. And, in the big picture it is just one day in a lifetime spent together.

We will never be powerful enough to control the weather, but so far we have proven resilient enough to live with it.

Copyright © 2013 by Ted Huffman. I wrote this. If you want to copy it, please ask for permission. There is a contact me button at the bottom of this page. If you want to share my blog a friend, please direct your friend to my web site.