An oh-so-brief summer shower kissed the North Bay recently, bringing thoughts of rain, fire and natural selection to Beth Touchette.
A pattering sound awakened me on a recent August morning. My months long wildfire obsession made me assume the sound was created by a firehose being sprayed on our roof. I shot out of bed, and looked outside.
Raindrops were falling on our deck, patio, and as far as I could see. I walked outside, and smelled the no- longer-familiar-wet cave odor on our patio bricks. I inhaled deeply, and went back to bed.
I needed to get ready for work soon, but I wanted to savor hearing rain again. I remembered the many storms I had heard over the 20-odd years we have lived in our house. I hoped I would soon be listening to massive winter storms created by atmospheric rivers. Unfortunately, the pattering ended long before my alarm went off.
I found another glimmer of hope when I read about the Black-backed Woodpecker, whose habitat is the ponderosa and lodgepole pine…
