Rainy days…for the last two years they have been few and far between. We had around 4 inches of total rainfall followed by 6 inches. This year we are already at nearly 10 inches (our seasonal average before the drought parched the state), and it’s early in the rainfall season.
I appreciate the need for rainfall, but as a teacher, I don’t love a rainy school day. Our school is ill prepared for rain. There are no pathways from the classroom to anywhere else on campus (including the bathrooms and the lunch serving area) that are totally covered. You WILL get wet if rain is falling. And since students eat outdoors (we have picnic tables under an awning), when it rains, it means they eat in our classrooms.
California has been plagued (blessed?) with lots of atmospheric rivers this season, bringing A LOT of rain. And I know I shouldn’t be complaining–we are getting rain AND we haven’t had the kind of devastation that other areas have been experiencing.
But as the rain drip dropped this morning I tried to make the best of things. Since students arrived directly to classrooms, I got those last few kiddos’ assessments completed while things were still quiet. When I learned that two of our reading teachers were out today (I knew about one yesterday–got the call about the other experiencing flooding in her home this morning, yucky for her!), I figured I could get some one-on-one reading time squeezed in. Drip by drop, I ended up reading with 20 of my 22 students today!
And the good news?!? The rain is done for now, we are looking at clear skies until the middle of next week. Hopefully we can dry out, get outside (for eating and for exercise), and return to a more typical schedule.
While the persistent drought we’ve been experiencing isn’t over, this over the top rainfall is helping to alleviate some of the pressure. And the plants are loving it, lapping up each drip and drop.
