Tommy retired from the University of Virginia, and now farms full time. Down in the valley behind the house, a few yards from the meadow where Russell's house vanished, Davis Creek seeps from a tunnel of maple, mimosa and Judas tree. It barely clears the small pebbles on its floor. The cattle are feeding on pastureland the color of wheat. Wells are failing.
Reservoirs are low.
And the more the rivers fall, the thicker with sewage and fertilizers and pesticides they get. Showers come now and then, but they barely moisten the topsoil. What the Blue Ridge needs is a good soaking to rescue its farms, its families. It sure could use some rain. A long, hard rain.