Breaking our worrying period of rainless weather there was a violent night of thunderstorms in the middle of this week. The skies seemed hugely angry and illuminated the penumbral landscape with manic lightning flashes. We counted the anxious seconds between hearing the thunders’ rumble and the oncoming flashes and decided it was now time to disconnect electrical equipment especially our computer and TV. When the rain came the sound of the drops on the leaves of our trees and on our lawn’s grass blades as it unleashed the clouds’ pent-up load was deliciously refreshing.

The morning descended upon us with an embracing mist obfuscating our bedroom view of the Val di Lima and a welcome sparkle permeated the landscape’s atmosphere. Our garden seemed particularly grateful for the nocturnal downpour.

Never in living memory has Italy experienced such a drought.  Even the country’s mightiest river, the Po, has turned salty well before it mouths into the Adriatic. The course just doesn’t have enough fresh water flowing into it to beat back the briny sea.

Our garden is continuing to fight a brave battle against the arid conditions. I checked it out this morning and was so glad to find our courageous plants making a welcome stand against the increasing desertification of our climate.

My thoughts went to other denizens of our martyred planet who are making an equally brave stand against man-made destruction and desertification of civilization in our European continent…