Rain. It’s usually not something we get too excited about.

Some probably even consider it a nuisance. Yet if you’re a farmer who has experienced devastating crop losses, or a homeowner whose grass has died the past few summers due to the extremely hot and dry conditions, the rains of the past week or two have been a welcome sight for commercial agriculturalists and aspiring green thumbs alike.

We’re not out of the woods yet. According to the National Weather Service in Wakefield, southeast Virginia continues to be in a state of moderate drought, with much of the area facing at least a 5-inch deficit in annual rainfall totals.

Our neighbors in northeastern North Carolina are in an even more precarious situation, as Elizabeth City has seen only one-half inch of rain so far in June, and a wildfire continues to burn near the Outer Banks, which is causing poor air quality and threatens summer vacations.

Our local economy depends heavily on agriculture, and our friends in the farming business cannot sustain many more years like the ones we’ve had the last few.

So while we recognize that we are at the mercy of Mother Nature when it comes to receiving desperately needed rainfall, we’ll continue to do our rain dance anyway — and hope it keeps working.