Below is something I wrote to a friend in N.J. in June, 2000. His area was getting lots of rain and he was complaining about having to cut grass so often. Georgia had a warning then but it has gone it's merry way with it's head in the clouds- well, not in the clouds but looking at blue sky.

"Oh, for some of that rain. We wouldn't even mind cutting grass if we had any left.

Our air conditioner pumps out a lot of water which I am catching to keep a few shrubs going- rhododendron, a few azaleas, 4 or 5 hydrangeas, gardenias, and some special daylilies, and a couple of hostas. I hate to lose plants that we have rooted, divided, and increased through lots of work and time, but there doesn't seem to be a whole lot of choice.

Every time I use the hose Larry calls me a water thief. And neighbors are encouraged to tell on neighbors now if they are using water illegally.

We are asked to only scrape, not rinse, dishes, before putting them into the dishwasher, to catch water that runs while we wait for the hot water to come up, etc. and etc. Back in the early eighties, right after we had moved back to this area, there was a drought. I had brought a lot of plants with us from N.C. and didn't want to lose them so I often used the rinse water from the laundry to water things then. I'll no doubt have to do that again.

But developers are still allowed to landscape and water their plants. I guess, in a way, I can understand that. A lot of people would suffer the loss of jobs if the landscaping business went under.

One day it will rain again."