I went for a walk to a tiny tank high on the mountain.

The rain had fallen for days, for hours non-stop, in amounts not common around this neck of the woods. Records were set.

And so we have to get out now to see what the forest looks like now, because it’s the most rain we’ve received in a mighty long time.

Right now is the best time to hike Los Padres National Forest, for the exceptional rainfall and it’s radical transformation of the droughty land.

Wind buffeted the ridge, nearly strong enough to toss a body off balance.

The 60 days following the torrential rains are here now. And will come only but once.

This land is not the same place year round for the dearth of precipitation through long warm summers.

Who knows when it will rain much again?

We’re already halfway through February, typically one of our wettest months, and yet no rain has fallen. We hope for a March miracle. But now, we go.

Rain brings change and big rains after long droughts bring big change.

Miss it and it’s like a surfer missing a great swell. You gotta be there when it fires.

Sometimes, it only happens once every ten years or more.

You get one opportunity.

In brief lulls the water settled and the claw marks were revealed.

Water levels in creeks and rivers will not be as high in two months as they are now.

The flush of nutrient-dense herbs and edibles is now.

Flowers are blooming now.

The forest is swelling in volume and sprouting furiously right now. And all the creatures.

Two months from now will be a much different story.

That moment in time that is right now will be gone forever.