Feb 13 2016
  • Today

    73°F 53°F

  • Tomorrow

    75°F 51°F

Blooming bee brush.

Soft white flowers heralding the rain.
Attracting bees.
Texas sage.
Puncher purple blooms swarming like bees all over its silvery gray leaves.
Predicting rain.
And then there's the green green grass.
It's never been so green.
Water standing in puddles in the pastures.
Wet, wet, wet.
Testament to rains already received.
Just think.
There's more to come.
Thanks to El Nino.
Which is Spanish for "the child."
As in "the Christ Child."
So says Trusty Webster.
The warm inshore current got its name because it occurs close to Christmas.
And it's in Spanish because it's famous for moving from Ecuador down the coast to Peru.
With a devastating effect on weather, crops, fish, etc.
In other words, the equatorial Pacific Ocean gets warmer than normal.
And what happens in Peru doesn't stay in Peru.
A wetter winter will deluge the "southern tier of the U.S."
Thus spake the NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration).
And drought will prey upon the other side of the world.
Happens every seven to 10 years.
Ocean warms up.
Especially closer to shore.
Trade winds weaken that normally blow west.
Rain follows the warm water eastward.
Toward land.
Over-abundant rain falls.
Peru floods.
On the flip side, Indonesia and Australia dry up.
The usual moisture never arriving.
Warmer seas also deprive necessary nutrients for marine ecosystems.
Which mean fish die.
And fishermen have no fish.
And no income.
And hurricanes like the beastly Patricia take their toll.
The good news is we get much-needed rain.
At the cost of disaster striking elsewhere.
It's a vicious cycle.
Feast or famine.
Let Nature take its course.
That's Mason.