I Am The Rain Maker, or, Maybe Coyote is in Charge

Many a man curses the rain that falls upon his head, and knows not that it brings abundance to drive away the hunger. ~Saint Basil

Clouds come floating into my life, no longer to carry rain or usher storm, but to add color to my sunset sky. ~Rabindranath Tagore

I am sure it is a great mistake always to know enough to go in when it rains. One may keep snug and dry by such knowledge, but one misses a world of loveliness. ~Adeline Knapp

According to the Handbook of Native American Mythology, as you might expect many Native American cultures have stories that explain how the seasons came to be. For example, the Tsimshian, believed that an ongoing squabble among the Four Great Winds (North, South, East, and West) is settled after they come to an agreement that each shall have the earth for three months, making the seasons the result of the shifting required to maintain a mediated settlement.

But I think my favorites involve efforts by the animals of the earth to sort things out amongst themselves and a concerted effort to resist the will of Coyote as he tries to force his will on the others. In Northern Paiute lore, Coyote summoned a large crowd of other animals to decide how long the seasons should be, proposing that each be 10 months (and stating that he would be strong enough to survive such a long winter). Without getting any responses at all, he felt the matter was decided and left to get his pipe for a smoke to seal the deal. While gone, the other animals quickly decided Coyote's proposal would not do, and a bird from the mountains proposed three months for each season, so the other animals agreed and left before Coyote returned.

As you might expect, Greek Mythology has both a story of sisters who rule over the seasons and portions of time as well as one drawing on turmoil among the gods, including kidnapping, forced marriage and a negotiated settlement.

These sisters??

In Christianity, God appointed the times and seasons as was defined in the bible book Ecclesiastes (and a great song from the 1960's, Turn! Turn! Turn...written by Pete Segar and sung by the Byrds:

"There is an appointed time for everything. And there is a time for every event under heaven ~

A time to give birth, and a time to die; A time to plant, and a time to uproot what is planted.

A time to kill, and a time to heal; A time to tear down, and a time to build up.

A time to weep, and a time to laugh; A time to mourn, and a time to dance."

Source

And so on, each culture or tradition presumably having its own mythology explaining how the seasons came to be.

It is relevant now, of course, because our area has been having such a warm, dry winter, having just finished the second driest December on record and spending the first two weeks of January with record temperatures in the 60's approaching 70 on some days and absolutely zero rain.

I've spent the last few days pruning, watering and fertilizing--partially because I felt forced by the weather and partially to take advantage of this seemingly early spring--while keeping in mind that it's actually the middle of winter (70 degree afternoon be damned!). So, in essence, I was making it rain.

Now, some of you might believe that I believe I can influence the weather (and don't think I didn't try through force of will), but I do accept that I have certain limitations. I've also read a couple of articles in some farming & agriculture papers that many farmers in the state have done some irrigation this month. So, from the plants' perspective, we are making it rain.

It's almost as if Coyote or one of the sisters is asserting themselves and forcing the season. Now, THAT would be a fun way to experience the seasons; however, I believe it's some combination of climatic forces that pushed the jet stream north.

Looks like there is some rain in the forecast for next week, but with such dry conditions for the past two months (and a dreadfully low snow pack), it seems unlikely we will be able to make it up over the next couple of months.

It will be nice to be able to stop irrigating. One of the joys of a winter garden for me is that it is typically pretty self-sufficient. And, I do really love harvesting some of the greens that have been slowly progressing during the cold months. (I find them to be very hearty and flavorful.)

So, here's to a hopefully wet February and March!

~Timothy