Rain and Local Treasure

Finally the rain has begun! Summer in Austin has been brutal, although I only caught the tail end, so the relief has been a long time coming. Rain here means four things this time of year: a replenished aquifer (ensuring we have clean, fresh water), cooler weather (83 degrees!), the promise of beautiful wildflowers this Spring (bluebonnets need good, deep October showers in order to dazzle in May) and hair that goes from shiny and straight to a frizzy, wavy mess!

I suppose I shouldn't complain and, while posting this picture, I think my hair might just look like that on a regular basis. Hmmmm. Regardless, I know this swampy weather can only mean good things for our green slice of Texas.

Unwittingly, Susan and I had planned the perfect celebration of rainy weather with a prearranged trip to Boggy Creek Farm this past Wednesday morning. It is one

of the Nation's few urban farms, just a couple miles east of downtown Austin. Boggy Creek offers beautiful, organic produce and eggs harvested there, as well as local meats and dairy products. Each Wednesday and Saturday they set up market in a little covered area with their latest triumphs proudly displayed.

Susan stocked up on gorgeous yellow squash and green beans that were so sweet you hardly needed to cook them. I grabbed a wonderfully gnarled sweet potato and some petite yellow onions that were deliciously fragrant and smelled like they'd already been sauteed in butter. We then explored the

grounds, checking out the clucking hens and admiring the rain-swept beauty of our newly discovered Austin gem. While walking around the rain started up again and, as we ducked into the car, the sky opened up and poured and poured and poured. . .