I AWOKE RATHER SUDDENLY...
at 3 a.m. this morning, to the smell of rain. A few minutes later I could hear the drip drip from the side of the roof. And we've had mist off and on today.

Those of you in other climates are probably laughing but rain (even of the mist variety) is pretty exciting here. Generally speaking, we don't see rain between May and October, although we did have a good downpour a few weeks ago. Not only is this the real beginning of fall but it is also the end of the fire season. Today's mist has removed the smoke that has been lingering over the Valley these past several days. And I'm sure the firefighters in the mountains aren't complaining about it -- not at all! Praise God for the rain!