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| An October Monday in the Georgia woods. Photo by me, October 2025. |
It was a fantastic day in the woods on Monday with my favorite smell of dead leaves filling the air and the sound of the crunching under my feet. Yet, there is a serious problem. In the photo above there is normally a flowing a creek on the left. All there is now are a few puddles between the banks.
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| A skinny doe with ribs visible emerges from the woods near Suwanee, Ga.. Photo by me, October 2025. |
You cannot argue that the weather has
not been ideal for outdoor activities for the last several weeks with
low humidity, comfortable afternoon highs and cool nights. I took a
five a half mile walk on Sunday and six miles on Monday. I have been
pruning trees and catching up on maintenance, since the grass is
going dormant, that was shelved over the worst of summer. The deer
have been foraging in the woods and have been in my front yard at
night scrounging for something to eat. It is so very dry here.
The last significant rainfall at my house was on August twenty-first and since then there have only been a couple of days of brief showers and nothing significant. We need rain and lots of it to relieve this severe drought in Georgia. Unfortunately, if the long range models are to be believed, there is one chance of very light rain this coming Sunday and that is it through the rest of October.
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| A Sunday walk in the woods. Photo by me, October 2025. |
The weather reminds me of Southern California with cool nights, warm days and little rain. California weather is nice in California, but the trees, shrubs, flowers and animals in Georgia are accustomed to much more rain. Also, like California, the risk of wildfires is high and increasing every day with the trees shedding dry leaves onto a bone dry landscape.
The persistent trough in the western
United States and the ridge in the central and eastern portions of
the country are the culprits. Until this pattern breaks there is
little chance for rain here. Eventually the weather will balance
itself and the pattern will reverse, but it is unknown when and it
needs to be sooner instead of later. In the meantime, people need to
find some common sense.
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| A nearby house sets a tree on fire from their carelessness. Photo by me, September 2025. |
Last month, a neighbor set a pine tree on fire with sparks from their backyard fire pit. Thanks to the local fire station for a quick response otherwise this could have easily spread. Some people are so disconnected from the natural environment around them that they seem to have no idea how dry it is and how dangerous outdoor fires are now. I heard fireworks in the distance an hour ago as I wrote this. If we had an effective state government that was not beholden to private business all fireworks sales would be suspended until the drought was over, but there has been no meaningful guidance from the state during this drought. The only mention I have been able to find is this AJC article from October 2. Someone from the state needs to step up to the cameras and microphones and tell the citizens to stop being clueless idiots.
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