The rain helped to ease the fire situation, but that won’t last very long. The fire fuels will dry out in another day or so, and we’ll be right back where we were before the rain fell as far as fire danger goes. The very earth itself is still very, very dry.

Not long ago, I dug a hole to plant something in a bed where we have a sprinkler that is programmed to run for thirty minutes, twice a week. When I dug down, probably less than a foot, the ground was so dry that it scattered in the wind much like sawdust when I brought a shovel-full of it to the surface. I literally gasped in surprise and disbelief, but I guess that’s what happens when you run two feet short on rainfall in a year. Horrifying.

News-journal.com out of Longview, Texas has a nice little article this morning about the rain and how it will only provide a temporary reprieve. They also have a nice update on the Northeast Texas fire complex in an easy-to-read format. Be sure to check it out. Let’s keep praying for rain and be thankful for every drop we got this weekend.