Weather Woes

I know hearing about the weather does not seem of interest (esp. since many of you are burning up on the east coast), but this is FRENCH weather I am reporting on. And I promise it will be short - ish.

RAIN, RAIN, HAIL, RAIN and more RAIN --- that's the story since May 16th. What should be the most beautiful time here has been cold, damp, moldy, dismal, and of course depressing. We have had about 45 minutes of sunshine since mid May - and that is no lie.

Now for the details - it all started with the sand rains from northern Africa. Yes, the rain contains sand from the Sahara Dessert that the fierce winds there stir up into the atmosphere. The winds from the south bring the orange rains this way and everything is covered in the desert dirt. Then cold air from Greenland swooped in and the Sahara warm air met the cold, and we had a hail / wind storm like we've never seen before.

The hail started at 10 pm and lasted about 15 min. There was SO much hail that it took a snow shovel to get it all off the patio. At noon the NEXT day, there was still hail on the ground. Along with the hail came straight winds (like a tornado - but no spiral) which our Rhone Valley occassionally gets.

Given that walnut trees are blooming now, and crops are trying to grow, the hail and winds were quite destructive. In our area of Isere (equivalent to a county) 5,000 walnut trees were blown over. This is an economic nightmare for farmers, and those of us that will look for stable walnut prices next year, will see a rise due to a shortage on the world market. So be saving your money for your Christmas baking ingredient.

Kate is convinced we live under a black cloud and I think she is right. The weather pattern seems locked down over all France. We are back wearing our winter "uniform" of warm clothes, and every day we awaken to fog and rain. Our poor plants are melting into the earth.

So that's it for the weather report. As I close, I remain oh so hopeful to see the sunshine before we leave, but as I look out the window, it is raining AGAIN.