Sometimes, especially this week, I wonder if we as Californians are spoiled when it comes to the weather.

Here the sun is often shining, and usually the temperatures are pretty moderate.  Unless of course we are talking about summertime.  Jeez! It’s been super hot here the last two years.

Now that I am working in the nursery, I do pay a little more attention to the weather and the seasons.  It’s such an impact on the industry that it’s impossible to avoid.

I enjoy the cold with a happiness that most people in California, can’t seem to understand.  There’s something about it that makes me feel like I am fragile yet strong and part of the elements.

I love to walk in the rain, when I am prepared for it.  I don’t often use an umbrella, but I do need my ipod or something.  I also love to have gloves.  Other than that, I prefer to just feel what it’s like to have the drops land on my head.  To soak my hair.  To run down my face.  Sometimes the drops are stinging and freezing cold and other times like in the summer, in Nevada, they are heavy and warm.

So you may be asking, “Jery, why in the hell are you talking about walking in the rain?” The answer, dear friends, is simple.  While the rest of the country nearly froze back in January, we here in the Bay Area, enjoyed a gorgeous month.  So we had what seemed like a very, very brief winter.  February came and it was mild.  A little rain here, some warm breezy days there.  All in all, it was a nice month.

Then at work we had a presentation at work about rain harvesting.  It was a company called Bushman’s.  He continued to tell us about the seriousness of drought and what the people of Australia have had to deal with.  People are so strict about their water usage that there are even calls to the police!

It’s a pretty alarming scenario, especially when you realize how precious water is.  People are trying to privatize water in other countries and it’s angering! What right have these companies to deny water (which is frackin’ FREE) from villages of people?

Please watch FLOW: For the Love Of Water or This from the History Channel.  Please!  You will find it so hard to pay 3 bucks for “fresh” water that a company got for pennies from land that isn’t theirs. Did  you know that there is LESS regulation for bottle water companies than the company that filters your tap water?   There have been things like arsenic in bottled water, just to name one item.

Without all this rain to replenish at least some of the drinking water that we use to do things like water lawns or clean off the car, we, my friends, may be prone to similar actions of other drought stricken countries.

What will we do when all the fresh water has been depleted?  Will we have to resort to drinking recycled water, like other countries?  What happens when the water in the States becomes privatized?  What happens when the fighting begins for control of what’s left of the drinkable water?  Water will be the new oil.

Embrace the rain my fellow, Californians.  It’s helping to keep your gardens gorgeous, grow your sustainable foods, and water your lawn.  Consider harvesting rain water for future use in your garden.  Save the drinking water for consumption.