The Joys of a Good Rain

We've had quite a dry summer out here in Middle-Tennessee. You see, in the Mid-South, when you don't have a good thunder-booming rainstorm at least every other week, you manage to earn yourself the title of "drought" even when it's rained a few times and even if the lawns are all still green. This is quite a new philosophy for this California-girl. I like myself a good rainstorm, don't get me wrong, but when you have 3 dogs and the back-yard looks like you have 3 dogs, you end up with...

...mud.

Not just mud - but red clay that makes itself quite obvious as the wet dogs have shaken their coats in the ecru/almond-colored kitchen. Let's just say, I wait for it all to dry, sweep up what I can and then take bets as to when it will rain again and if it's worth it to mop now or later. Sadly, we end up waiting, but inevitably it rains the day after we mop. It's like when you wash your car. But I digress.

So this year, we're in a drought because it's only rained five times instead of twenty-five, and we FINALLY had our first good rain of the season. Sarge and Sadie, though they may be part Labrador, don't seem to appreciate the rain. Sherman, on the other hand, really seemed to enjoy it. And the mud. And rolling in it.

This picture was after he had already dried off quite a bit. Notice the ground is not soaking wet? We usually wait for them to dry and then brush them, but this was bath-worthy.

At least they left some of the mud outside...After Sherman's bath, we waited for the tub to dry completely and I was able to use a brush and dust-pan to sweep up the dirt Miguel washed off of him out of the tub.

We're still not out of the drought and yes, our lawn did eventually die along with everyone elses'. I no longer make fun of our Southern Drought, and I did learn a lot about perspective this summer. I also learned a third dog doesn't really make things that much worse when you have to clean up the mud after it rains.