In 1899 on July 11, weather records at the Central Experimental Farm in central Ottawa reflected a recording of 74.2 mm of rain. A recording station measured 57.4 mm on July 17, 1900 falling in the Ottawa area. And last Monday? Well, the typical average rainfall for a month in Ottawa's summer averages out to 73 millimetres. Last Monday we reached a record for the amount of rain falling in one day in the Ottawa region, at 79 mm. Streets were flooded, so were backyards and basements of unfortunate homeowners and businesses.

So my impression that the rainfall on Monday was a veritable deluge did not come out of nowhere. This month of July is preparing to set another all-time record for the most rain falling in a single month in Ottawa. The two months previous, certainly have done so. We've had more than our share of rain. Wish we could offer some of it to the interior of British Columbia, to help battle those out-of-control wildfires.

Even wish we could convince nature to transfer some of that incessant rain to Italy, suffering a drought, endangering the nation's food supply, destroying crops for lack of water. Thousands of Italians in danger from proximity to wildfires that have broken out there, have had to evacuate their homes and their neighbourhoods while the wildfires are being fought.

Here, despite the enormous amount of rain we've had, we discovered when we finally ventured out the following day, yesterday, into the forest for our daily ravine ramble, that the landscape had managed to absorb the rain very well. True, the creek was swollen, but moving swiftly along, as it should. The construction crews were back at work Tuesday, at their mammoth effort installing gigantic sewer pipes in the ravine.

And the trails were, for the most part, in very good shape. Mind, growing things had been beaten down, but they were all rallying. In certain places along the forest trails, the forest floor once again resembles a swamp, but in a few days' time it will all recede, as it sinks into the ground. Our next rain event is scheduled for tomorrow, but it isn't supposed to be anywhere near the inundation of Monday.