Rain Rain ...

This summer the Massachusetts libraries are using the theme "Go Green" for their Summer Reading Programs. My presentation is called "Come Outside and Play" and it encourages kids to spend more time outdoors, because I believe that fostering a relationship between children and the Earth will help them become more invested in its care. I presented this program twice yesterday, and it got me thinking....
It rained nearly every day in June 2009 here in NH....this summer things are quite a bit different. We've hardly had any rain at all, and you can tell by the looks of our front lawn...burned to a crisp. We don't believe in watering our lawn, but we do water the fruit trees, flower and vegetable gardens. We use a hose for the fruit trees and watering cans for the veggies and flowers.
Why am I telling you this?
Because it's important to conserve water, and nothing drives me crazier than driving down the street and seeing automatic (or even non-automatic) sprinklers going and WATERING THE SIDEWALK OR THE STREET!! You can probably tell that I've seen this quite a bit already this summer. Please... if you use a sprinkler make sure the water is falling on plants and not on tar.
And if you live somewhere where there is sparse rain please consider purchasing a rain barrel. They usually have them at the local hardware or agri-store. That way, when it DOES rain, you can recycle the rain you catch to water your growing things....or, as I say in my song "I Love the Rain," to wash your car.
Now, if it would only just rain.....