An Open Letter to Mother Nature

Dear Mother Nature,

I feel like we've been here before. We've had these tough conversations. I still don't agree with the way you arranged breastfeeding. And at the risk of unearthing difficult situations, we certainly talked a few times about mastitis. Tornadoes have always perplexed me. Drought. Antibiotic-resistant bacteria: Well, I've never tried to pin that on you. That's our fault. Lima beans...I know you have your reasons.

And Mother Nature, I'm not trying to say you've never done anything right. Not at all. The sweet potato: nice work, seriously. Lobster: genius! And the snow days, I thanked you for all of those. Kittens. The New River. The Pacific. Peaches. We've had good times and I always gave you props.

But this most recent thing, I feel like I can't hide my feelings. What is the point of four minutes of rain? It hasn't rained in Austin in weeks. It's hardly rained all summer. The wind, the thunder, and then the four minutes of rain you delivered today. At the risk of sounding trite: WTF? It made a paste of the grass and dirt we call our yard. It blew a bunch of pollen around but didn't wash it out of the air. It didn't help. It was actually kind of disgusting. I'm just not getting it.

Mother Nature, I'm not so much angry as disappointed. I expected better of you, and I'm left confused. And I'm not sure I want to ask for a "sign" at this point.

Just hoping time will heal all wounds (unless they, too, are antibiotic-resistant).

Yours,

Amy