Rain

He draws up the water vapour

and then distills it into rain.

The rain pours down from the clouds,

and everyone benefits.

(Job 36:27-28)

Photo taken on the Cork Kerry border on the N71 between Kenmare and Glengarriff.  

Hope

Nikon D70s, 1/250 sec, f8, ISO 200, 105mm equivalent (Bigger)

"Hope is anticipation of good not yet here, or as yet unseen."

(Dallas Willard, Renovation of the Heart)

In the face of gathering clouds

Panasonic LX1, f4, 1/500 sec, ISO 80, 60mm equivalent, (click to enlarge)

We always expect rain, especially in the winter, but the amount of rain we've had in recent weeks is more than anyone can remember. The floods that have resulted are also worse than any living memory can recall. We were driving through Bandon on Sunday evening and the mop-up was well underway. We passed a newsagents where row upon row of soggy magazines were draped on ruined shelving propped up against the window. As we passed the entrance to the shop we could see there were people inside. I expected downcast faces, but no, there were perhaps three or four men of good cheer sat on plastic crates drinking pints of the black stuff - good ol' Irish stoicism!

I took the above picture last Saturday near Sandycove, which itself is near Kinsale. It was cold and windy, though the rain was (temporarily) holding off. The menacing swirl of cloud above the hovering seagull captures the mood of these times for many. (If you can't see it, turn up the contrast on your monitor!)

Of course we are now on the cusp of the Advent Season; we celebrate Christ's coming and there are all sorts of symbols about Light coming into the darkness. Just this morning I was reading these wonderful and encouraging words from chapter 1 of John's Gospel:

^3-5Everything was created through him;
nothing—not one thing!—
came into being without him.
What came into existence was Life,
and the Life was Light to live by.
The Life-Light blazed out of the darkness;
the darkness couldn't put it out.

Harvest time at Belvelly, Cobh

Canon A570IS, 1/500 sec, f6.3, ISO 80, 5.8mm (Click to enlarge)

The farming community has had a tough 'summer', it's good to see a field with a least a bit of sun on it - even if only for a brief while. This was taken yesterday evening and just this morning the weather had changed rather dramatically for the worse once more.

If only we could find some way to export a few clouds to places that could do with them, like those vineyards in Australia that haven't had rain for four years. To make matters worse, we got a water bill yesterday and a leaflet urging us of the need to conserve water, as supplies were limited!